Mr. Zelensky said that the situation in Donbass has deteriorated, Russia is planning to rescue the Ukrainian tycoon

“Ukrainian armed forces are stopping this attack. Every day as our defense forces repel Russian offensive plans, disrupt them, we are getting closer and closer to the big day, day that we expect and fight for – Victory Day,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a video address on the night of May 21.

The 44-year-old leader also acknowledged that the situation in the Donbass region is “extremely difficult”, as the Russian army stepped up attacks on the city of Slovyansk in the Donetsk region and the city of Severodonetsk in the Lugansk province in the past few days. . However, he asserted: “No Russian attack, whether with a missile attack in the Rivne province, an artillery fire in the Kharkiv or Sumy province, or with all kinds of weapons in the Donbass, can carry give Russia any results”.

According to the General Staff of the Ukrainian Army, Russia is intensifying its attacks in Donetsk. The province’s governor, Pavlo Kyrylenko, accused the Russian shelling of mass destruction of civilian infrastructure even in places far from the front lines. However, these allegations cannot be verified.

Ukraine believes that Russia is targeting Severodonetsk, a city still controlled by Ukraine in the Lugansk province. While in the Donetsk region, Russia is carrying out new attacks on Sloviansk, and is seeking to encircle Ukrainian forces in the city.

Russia considers exchanging prisoners of war for Ukrainian tycoons

Russia is said to be considering exchanging prisoners of Ukraine’s Azov Brigade for Viktor Medvedchuk, a pro-Moscow Ukrainian tycoon arrested by the Kiev government in March.

“The Russian government will consider this possibility (exchange prisoners in exchange for Medvedchuk),” Leonid Slutsky, a senior member of Russia’s negotiating delegation to Ukraine, told a news conference in the city. Donetsk separatists in eastern Ukraine on May 21, according to the RIA Novosti news agency.

“We are not the only ones. The Russian Liberal Democratic Party (of which Mr. Slutsky is a member) and related agencies in Moscow are also considering this possibility,” the official added.

Viktor Medvedchuk, 67 years old, is a tycoon, parliamentarian and leader of the Opposition Platform – For Life, Ukraine’s largest opposition party. He is said to have made his fortune from Russian oil revenues and close ties to the Kremlin and President Vladimir Putin. Forbes magazine estimates Mr. Medvedchuk is worth about 620 million USD.

Last year, Mr. Medvedchuk was accused by the Kiev government of a series of crimes, including selling military secrets to Russia and aiding terrorism. This tycoon has been under house arrest since the first day Russia launched a military campaign in Ukraine in late February, but managed to escape and live incognito until he was arrested again by the Ukrainian secret service. again on 12/4.

Russia admits sanctions “breaking” many logistics corridors

TASS news agency, citing Russian Transport Minister Vitaly Savelyev, acknowledged that international sanctions had “disrupted” logistics activities in the country.

“The sanctions imposed on Russia… in fact, disrupted all logistics in our country. And we have to look for new logistics corridors,” Savelyev said during a visit to Russia’s southern port city of Astrakhan, located on the Caspian Sea.

The transport minister also said that the newly opened corridors for the transport of goods will include a north-south route through two ports on the Caspian Sea, Olya and Makhachkala.

Mr. Savelyev’s comment was the rare time a Russian official acknowledged that external sanctions are having a negative effect on the country’s economy.

Polish President will address Ukraine’s parliament

Polish President Andrzej Duda is expected to address the Ukrainian parliament during his visit to Kiev today (May 22).

According to a statement from the Polish presidential office, Duda arrived in the Ukrainian capital on May 21 and “will become the first foreign leader to address the Ukrainian Parliament since the outbreak of conflict with Russia.” “. The Polish president is expected to repeat his call for early admission of Ukraine to the European Union (EU) in his upcoming speech.

Earlier, President Andrzej Duda in April accompanied the leaders of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia to Kiev to hold talks with President Volodymyr Zelensky. Poland is currently one of the countries most enthusiastically supporting Ukraine in the conflict with Russia, and is also the country that receives the largest number of displaced people from Ukraine.

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