The situation in eastern Ukraine is becoming increasingly dangerous for the Ukrainian army. However, President Zelenskyj is combative: Donbass will remain Ukrainian. Russia wants to use its additional income from the gas business for the Ukraine war. You can find out what happened on the night of May 28 here.
military situation
Ukraine blamed Russia for the deaths of five civilians in the government-held part of the Donetsk region in the east of the country. “Today Russians killed five citizens of Donbass and wounded four others,” wrote the governor of the region, Pavlo Kirilenko, on the Telegram news channel.
In addition, Ukrainian media reported attacks in the Kharkiv area. The governor of Luhansk, Serhiy Hajday, spoke of a difficult situation in the embattled city of Sieverodonetsk. You have enough resources to hold the defense. However, it could be that the Ukrainian military will withdraw for tactical reasons.
Read here what new attack strategy Russia is using in the Donbass: Territorial gains in the Donbass – military experts dissect Russian strategy change: “No breakthrough so far”
Political Developments
Zelenskyj described the situation in the Donbass as very difficult in view of the Russian attacks. Moscow is using a maximum of artillery and reserves there, Zelenskyj said in a video speech. The Ukrainian army is defending the country with all currently available resources. “We are doing everything to strengthen the army,” assured the President. As far as the currently fiercely contested locations in the Donbass are concerned, Zelenskyj was combative. “If the occupiers think that Lyman and Sieverodonetsk will be theirs, they are mistaken. Donbass will be Ukrainian.” If Russia brings destruction and suffering, Ukraine will restore any place. Only the Ukrainian flag will fly there – and no other, Zelenskyj emphasized.
Russia is expecting additional income of the equivalent of 13.7 billion euros this year from the export of fossil fuels. “We expect up to a trillion rubles more in oil and gas revenues,” Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said on state television on Friday, referring to the latest forecast by the Ministry of Economic Development. Part of the additional income could be used to continue the Russian offensive in Ukraine.
The government wants to spend the extra revenue this year rather than set it aside, he said. The money should be spent on “additional payments” for pensioners and families with children and for the “special operation” in Ukraine, the finance minister said, citing Russia’s offensive in pro-western Ukraine.
The Ukrainian state-owned company Naftogaz and the state network operator are appealing to Germany to stop Russian gas deliveries through the Nord Stream 1 pipeline or at least to curb them noticeably. The line through the Baltic Sea was allowed, among other things, to secure Europe’s gas supply, said CEO Serhij Makohon on Ukrainian television. “But we see that Russia is completely violating these principles.” He is therefore calling on the Federal Ministry of Economics and the Federal Network Agency to suspend deliveries or at least severely limit them.
Because of the Russian war of aggression, the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate declared its “complete autonomy and independence” from Moscow. The church in Kyiv said it disagreed with the position of Moscow Patriarch Kirill. Condemn the war and appeal to Ukraine and Russia to continue the negotiation process.
Kirill, head of the Russian Orthodox Church, stands firmly behind Russian President Vladimir Putin. Most recently, the pressure within the Church in Ukraine to break away from Moscow had increased. Priests had even called for a church tribunal against Kirill. In terms of number of congregations, the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate is the largest of the three mainstream churches in Ukraine.
Kremlin opponent Mikhail Khodorkovsky is urging the West to supply Ukraine with heavy weapons. “If the Ukrainians are not supplied with the weapons they are requesting, there will soon be fighting around Kyiv again,” the 58-year-old told the “Bild” (Saturday). He thinks Western politicians are most afraid of Russian President Vladimir Putin. “They think they are not in a war. Because of this, they also believe that supplying certain weapons could lead to an escalation or turn them into a war party. Khodorkovsky called this a “very stupid attitude” because, from Putin’s point of view, Western politicians and countries are already at war with Russia.
Read more updates from the Ukraine war here.
Read everything about the political developments surrounding the Ukraine war in the news ticker.
According to the “Süddeutsche Zeitung”, insurance brokers report that Allianz wants to get rid of hundreds of medium-sized companies by increasing prices by up to 400 percent. Property insurance, which companies use to protect themselves against fire, storm damage and business interruption, is affected.
In order to relieve low and middle incomes from rising energy and food prices, Social Affairs Minister Hubertus Heil wants to introduce a social climate allowance for people with a monthly gross income of less than 4000 euros.
