Ukraine is entering a new phase of the war, said Defense Minister Alexei Reznikov. “Russia suffered a strategic defeat - it was not able to destroy the Ukrainian state until May 9 through military intervention and a change of power to Russian puppets. We forced her to reduce the scope of the objectives to the operational-tactical level. Against this background, we are entering a new - long-term - phase of the war.

Amid Russia’s war, Ukraine’s president is more popular than ever. Here’s how his team rallied a nation — and the West. On the eve of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, President Volodymyr Zelensky’s rating was less than 25 percent. Moscow waging an all-out war turned Zelensky into a national hero — one who now enjoys more than 90 percent support among Ukrainians.

The Latvian Foreign Ministry declared 102 Russian citizens undesirable, banning them from entering the country for an indefinite period. As noted in the statement of the diplomatic department, these people, mainly Russian cultural figures, expressed active support for the decision of the President of the Russian Federation to invade Ukraine and unambiguously justify Russian aggression in the neighboring country.

"Medusa" talked to him Danila Tkachenko so, according to the artist’s plan, the action was supposed to look. Photomontage Moscow artist Danila Tkachenko, author of the Rodina project , for which he set fire to abandoned village houses in 2017. On May 9, the artist was preparing a new action - Tkachenko wanted to let smoke in the colors of the Ukrainian flag in the center of Moscow during the Victory Parade. The rally was disrupted by the police.

The current president of South Ossetia, Anatoly Bibilov, signed a decree on holding a referendum on July 17 on joining the republic to Russia. “Guided by the historical desire of the people of the Republic of South Ossetia for reunification with Russia, in accordance with paragraph 16 of Article 50 of the Constitution, I decide: to call a referendum on the question “Do you support the unification of the Republic of South Ossetia and Russia?”, The text of the decree .

Blogger and founder of the St. Petersburg magazine "Sobaka.ru" Veronika Belotserkovskaya has been declared wanted under an article of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. Information about this appeared in the database of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. On March 16, the Investigative Committee opened a criminal case against Belotserkovskaya under Article 207.3 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation on “dissemination of fakes” about the actions of the armed forces.

RAO Nordic Oy, a subsidiary of the Russian Inter RAO, is suspending electricity supplies to Finland from May 14 due to non-payment for the supplied electricity. “We hope that the situation will be resolved soon and electricity trade with Russia will resume,” said in a statement. RAO Nordic Oy Representatives of the Finnish electricity grid company Fingrid said that the stoppage of supplies will not lead to interruptions for users, since only 10% of total consumption came from Russia.

Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin held telephone conversations with Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu on May 13. As noted, this was the first conversation between the heads of the US and Russian defense departments since February 18. “Austin called for an immediate ceasefire in Ukraine and stressed the importance of maintaining lines of communication,” the Pentagon said in a statement following the talks.

A film crew of the RT television channel came under rocket fire from the Ukrainian military near the city of Dokuchaevsk in the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic. According to the RT in Russian telegram channel, war correspondent Valentin Gorshenin was not injured, but cameramen Vladimir Batalin and Viktor Miroshnikov received shrapnel wounds to their legs and back. The injured were sent to the hospital.

Ukraine and Russia are facing the same two problems on the eastern front: enemy fire and the Siverskyi Donets river Ukrainian Airborne Forces Command / Reuters / Scanpix / LETA The remnants of a pontoon bridge on the Siverskyi Donets river.

Andrey Rudakov / Bloomberg / Getty Images Immediately after Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the ruble lost almost half of its value in relation to the dollar. In March, the exchange rate of the American currency exceeded 120 rubles (this is a historical record). But after a couple of weeks, the situation began to change, and by mid -May, the course dropped to 63–65 rubles per dollar - even lower than it was before the war.

Artist Danila Tkachenko stated that FSB officers disrupted his action on May 9 in Moscow and opened a criminal case against him. As he writes on social media, for his peaceful action he installed 140 blue and yellow smoke bombs in the air conditioners outside the windows of apartments near the Kremlin, which he planned to launch remotely during the parade on Red Square. He published a photomontage of what this action could look like.

On May 13, the Riga City Council voted to dismantle the Soviet monument to the Liberators of Riga, according to its website. The Riga Monuments Agency has been instructed to take the necessary measures. According to LSM, 39 deputies voted for the demolition of the monument, 13 - against. The day before, the Latvian parliament approved the suspension of the bilateral agreement with Russia on the preservation of memorial structures. This gave legal grounds for the demolition of the monument.

Who was included in the sanctions list and for what? The UK government has announced an expansion of the sanctions list against Russia over the war in Ukraine. The sanctions include people from the inner circle of Russian President Vladimir Putin, as well as members of his family. According to London, they are part of a "shadow network supporting Putin's luxurious lifestyle" and, thanks to their "regime connections", they receive influential positions. Here's who was on the list and why.

The administration of Barnaul refused to agree on the May 18 protest action of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation against the increase in prices, justifying this by the risk of forming a "negative attitude towards a special military operation." A copy of the relevant document was published by the Altai regional branch of the Communist Party.