A very heavy toll. Around 10,000 of the 50,000 detainees recruited from Russian prisons by the paramilitary group Wagner were killed in Ukraine, recognized the leader of the paramilitary organization, Yevgeny Prigojine, on Wednesday 24 May. “I selected 50,000 detainees, of whom about 20% were killed”, he conceded in an interview published Tuesday evening by pro-Kremlin blogger Konstantin Dolgov. These detainees were on the front line in the very bloody battle of Bakhmout, the longest since the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. In addition, Evguéni Prigojine specified that a similar proportion of his professional fighters had also died in combat, without however quantifying their precise number. Follow our live.
Drone attacks in Russia’s Belgorod region. Of “many” Drone attacks targeted the Russian region of Belgorod overnight from Tuesday to Wednesday, the governor of the region announced. The territory has been shaken in recent days by an incursion of armed groups from Ukraine. He said the attacks had damaged vehicles, homes and public buildings in the area, but no casualties. Nine civilians injured during the incursion are still hospitalized, including three in intensive care.
Ia France supports Ukraine “for the long term”. This was reaffirmed by Frédéric Mondoloni, Director General of Political Affairs and Security at the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs, during a meeting on Tuesday May 23 with the Chinese special envoy Li Hui in charge of the Ukrainian file. According to a statement, the diplomat reminded the Chinese envoy, who had come to discuss a political settlement of the conflict, “the full responsibility of Russia in the outbreak and continuation of the war”.
IRussia says it intercepted two American planes. Moscow claimed on Tuesday to have taken off a Su-27 fighter to meet two American planes over the Baltic Sea. According to the Russian Defense Ministry, the two aircraft in question were US Air Force B-1B strategic bombers which “were approaching the border”. Last week, a similar incident involved a Russian fighter and two French and German military planes.
The anti-terrorist regime lifted in Russia. The “anti-terrorist” regime put in place after an incursion by armed fighters from Ukraine on Monday in the Russian region of Belgorod was lifted on Tuesday, announced the regional governor, Vyacheslav Gladkov. Earlier, Russia claimed to have “crushed” with its air force and artillery, the group attacked this region near the border on Monday. According to the governor, one civilian was killed in this incursion.