E-Paper
Ukraine war: Russian air force attacks arms depot in Kharkiv | 5 top points
Ukraine war: On the 79th day of conflict, the Ukrainian forces claimed to have destroyed a Russian armoured column while it tried to cross a river in the Donbas region.
The fighting between Russian and Ukrainian forces has been underway since the past 79 days with no signs of peace. The war has witnessed civilian and military establishments reduced to rubble, innocent civilians losing their lives and more than six million Ukrainians fleeing the country. US defence secretary Lloyd Austin in his first telephone call to his Russian counterpart since the Ukraine invasion, called for an immediate ceasefire. The European Union has pledged another half billion dollars in military support for Kyiv in its fight against Vladimir Putin's forces.
As the war is inching towards completing three months, here are the top developments that transpired through the day.
1. The Russian forces have attacked an arms depot in warzone Kharkiv, Reuters quoted the Russian defence ministry. This comes at a time when Ukraine's defence minister said that there was no swift end to the war against Russia in sight. “We are entering a new — long-term — phase of the war,” Oleksii Reznikov said, adding that the weapons supplied by the West would take some time to begin turning the tide in Ukraine's favour.
2. A Ukrainian court on Friday held a preliminary hearing in the case in connection with the killing of a 62-year-old civilian by a captured Russian soldier. The accused Vadim Shishimarin is a 21-year-old tank commander in the Kantemirovskaya tank division from Moscow. He faces punishment up to life imprisonment if convicted for the killing in the northeast Ukrainian village of Chupakhivka on February 28.
3. Russia will suspend electricity supplies to Finland this weekend, a supplier said on Friday as tensions rise over Helsinki's NATO bid following the conflict in Ukraine, AFP reported. "We are forced to suspend the electricity import starting from May 14," said RAO Nordic, a subsidiary of Russian state energy holding Inter RAO that sells its electricity on the Nordic market.
4. The European Union has pledged another 500 million dollars in military aid to Ukraine in its fight against Russian forces. European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell promised Ukraine an extra 500 million euros ($520 million), bringing the bloc's total military aid to two billion euros. "The recipe is clear -- more of the same," Borrell said at a gathering of leading democracies as the war entered its 12th week.
5. The Ukrainian forces have destroyed parts of a Russian armoured column as it tried to cross a river in the Donbas region, the Ukrainian military released a video. Kyiv has claimed to have driven Russian troops away from Kharkiv in the fastest advance since Kremlin forced pulled away from Kyiv.
