Russia-Ukraine updates: Nuclear arms transfer under way – Belarus

The Russian commander of right-wing nationalist fighters who conducted a raid on a Russian border region this week said his group would soon launch more incursions into Russian territory from Ukraine.

The United States has imposed sanctions on the head of the Wagner Group in Mali, accusing the Russian private army of trying to obscure its efforts to acquire military equipment for use in Ukraine, and of working through Mali and other countries.

The US Department of the Treasury in a statement also accused Ivan Aleksandrovich Maslov, who it described as the head of Wagner paramilitary units and its principal administrator based in Mali, of working in close coordination with Malian government officials to execute the group’s deployment in Mali.

“Treasury’s sanctions against the most senior Wagner Group representative in Mali identify and disrupt a key operative supporting the group’s global activities,” the Treasury’s Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, Brian Nelson, said in a statement.

The move comes after Department of State spokesperson Matthew Miller on Monday said that there were indications that Wagner has been attempting to buy military systems from foreign suppliers and route those weapons through Mali.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has been awarded an honourary Doctor of Humane Letters degree from Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore.

In a surprise commencement address he delivered via livestream from Ukraine, Zelenskyy told graduates to take advantage of the time and resources they have to pursue their passions and uphold the democratic values at stake in his country’s war against Russia.

Zelenskyy, whose response to the Russian invasion has made him an international symbol of democracy, said he’s confident future generations of American leaders will continue championing democratic values around the world.

The US defence secretary says European allies are developing a coordinated programme to train Ukrainian pilots on the F-16 fighter jet, but Pentagon leaders warn that it will be a costly and complex task and won’t be a magic solution to the war for Ukraine.

“There are no magic weapons,” said the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, who spoke alongside Austin at a Pentagon news conference. Milley said providing 10 F-16s could cost $2bn, including maintenance.

Austin says the allies recognise that in addition to training, Ukraine will also need to be able to sustain and maintain the aircraft and have enough munitions. And he says that air defence systems are still the weapons that Ukraine needs most in the broader effort to control its airspace.

The White House says it has seen reports that Russia has moved ahead with plans to deploy tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus but that Washington has seen no reason to adjust its nuclear posture.

White House spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre said Russia’s move is an “example of making irresponsible and provocative choices”.

The Kremlin says Russia’s security services “know what they are doing” after a top Ukrainian intelligence official says Putin is number one on Kyiv’s kill list.

Vadym Skibitsky, deputy head of Ukraine’s military intelligence service, told Germany’s Die Welt newspaper in an interview that Kyiv wants to assassinate Putin “because he coordinates and decides what happens” in the war. He said the Russian president is aware he tops Ukraine’s hit list.

“But in the end, everyone will have to answer for their actions,” Skibitsky was quoted as saying. “Putin is noticing that we are getting closer and closer to him, but he is also afraid of being killed by his own people.”

When asked if measures to protect Putin were being stepped up after Skibitsky’s interview, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told state TV: “Believe me, our security services know their job and know what they are doing.”

Russia will not achieve a military victory in Ukraine, Milley says while also cautioning that Kyiv is unlikely to force out all of Moscow’s troops anytime soon.

“This war, militarily, is not going to be won by Russia. It’s just not,” Milley told journalists at the Pentagon.

The US has long asked Ukraine not to use US-provided military equipment to carry out attacks inside Russian territory, the top US general says following accusations that pro-Ukrainian militia used US armoured vehicles in a cross-border attack this week.

Milley said his office was looking into imagery showing the vehicles allegedly used in an attack on the Russian border region of Belgorod. But he said Kyiv was clear about the US position that such US equipment should not be used inside Russia.

“As Russia’s invasion has evolved, so has our security assistance,” US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin tells reporters during a press conference in Washington, DC, in response to questions about providing Ukraine with F-16 fighter planes.

President Joe Biden has long been reluctant to supply the warplanes to Kyiv, but at the weekend, he agreed to allow other countries to send the US-made aircraft to Ukraine

“It’s not a question of will we agree later or agree now or under pressure; that’s not at all what is going on here,” Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley said. “This is hardcore military analysis that looks at cost, benefit and risk and what is the need on the battlefield now and in the near future.”

Russia’s Ministry of Defence says it has scrambled fighter jets to escort two United States strategic bombers away from the Russian border as they flew over the Baltic Sea.

“The crew of the Russian fighter aircraft identified the aerial targets as two US Air Force B-1B strategic bombers,” it said in a statement.

The US aircraft did not cross the border and the fighter jets returned to their home airfield, it said.

Exiled Belarusian opposition leader Svetlana Tikhanovskaya says Russia’s transfer of nuclear weapons to her country represents a threat to Europe and Ukraine.

“Today, the Belarus regime has signed an agreement with Russia on the deployment of nuclear weapons. It would not only endanger the lives of Belarusians but also create a new threat against Ukraine and all of Europe,” Tikhanovskaya said in an English-language Twitter post.

She posted the message after Minsk announced the nuclear arms transfer had begun.

Today, the #Belarus regime has signed an agreement with Russia on the deployment of nuclear weapons. It would not only endanger the lives of Belarusians but also create a new threat against Ukraine & all of Europe.

Even when they are talking about tactical nuclear weapons, most… pic.twitter.com/tKFpL5Oosj

— Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya (@Tsihanouskaya) May 25, 2023

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko says Russia has started to transfer some tactical nuclear weapons to his country, the TASS news agency reports.

Earlier on Thursday, Russia had signed a deal with its close ally on storing warheads at a special facility that is to be finished in a month.

The founder of Russia’s Wagner Group says he is sending back the bodies of a US citizen killed in fighting in Bakhmut and a Turkish citizen found dead in a blown-up building.

“We are returning the body of an American and the body of a citizen of Turkey along with prisoners,” Wagner founder Yevgeny Prigozhin said in a video clip as he stood near the coffins.

The Turkish man was found dead along with a Turkish woman in the remains of a building blown up by Ukrainian forces, Prigozhin said.

The Turkish woman’s body could not be recovered, he said.

Wagner identified the American as a former US special forces soldier, Nicholas Maimer.

On Saturday, Russia claimed its army and the Wagner forces had captured Bakhmut after months of heavy fighting.

The European Commission has called for China to play a constructive role in establishing peace in Ukraine after a top EU diplomat met China’s envoy Li Hui.

“The EU expects China, as a Permanent Member of the UN Security Council, to play a constructive role and to use every occasion to uphold and promote the UN Charter and international law, and to recall the necessity to respect the principles of sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity and to stop the bloodshed and indiscriminate targeting of civilians by immediately and unconditionally withdrawing all forces and military equipment from the entire territory of Ukraine,” the commission said in a statement.

Last week, Li visited Ukraine and met Zelenskyy and is set to visit Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Friday.

Sweden might allow Ukrainian pilots to test its Gripen fighter jets, its defence minister tells the broadcaster TV4.

But Pal Jonson repeated earlier comments that Sweden has no plans to send any of its Gripens to Ukraine because they are needed to defend Sweden.

“This concerns the Ukrainians putting in inquiries about various kinds of aviation systems – it can be Tornados, F-16s or Gripens – so that they can test the kinds of platforms and systems that we and other countries operate,” Jonson said.

“We are now looking at the possibility that the Ukrainians can test the Gripen.”

The initiative could involve test flights, simulators and instruction about the fighter jet’s ground support system.

“Some decisions remain, both on the Ukrainian and the Swedish side,” Jonson said.

Cyprus says it is committed to upholding European Union sanctions on Russia and urged the bloc to support sectors, such as shipping which is affected by the penalties.

“Right from the start, Cyprus has been implementing all the sanctions related to the Russian invasion to Ukraine”, President Nikos Christodoulides said after meeting German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in Berlin.

“We’re on the right side of history and we will continue in the same direction.”

“Where there is a cost for the European industries due to the decisions that we take – the right decisions that we take – the European Union should intervene to support those sectors.”

US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin says he hopes that training for Ukrainian pilots on F-16 fighter jets will begin in the coming weeks, The Associated Press reported.

Austin spoke as defence leaders from around the world assembled for a virtual meeting to discuss the continuing military support for Ukraine and how and where the pilot training will be done.

“We’re going to have to dig deeper, and we’re going to have to continue to look for creative ways to boost our industrial capability,” Austin said before the military leaders began their closed session.

“The stakes are high. But the cause is just and our will is strong.”

“We hope this training will begin in the coming weeks,” Austin said.

The defence officials will also get an update from Ukrainian leaders, including on their anticipated counteroffensive.

Finland’s government says it will send additional military equipment to Ukraine, including anti-aircraft weaponry and ammunition, at an overall cost of 109 million euros ($120 million).

“For operational reasons and in order to ensure the safe delivery of assistance, no further details are provided on the exact content, method or timetable of assistance,” the government said.

Zelenskyy’s chief of staff says Ukraine has secured the release of 106 Prisoners of War (POWs) in an exchange with Russia.

The soldiers, including eight officers, were captured fighting in Bakhmut.

“Every one of them is a hero of our state. Many of the ones we are returning from captivity were considered missing. The relatives of these people have gone through a difficult time,” said the senior official, Andriy Yermak.

There was no immediate information about the forces Russia received from Ukraine during the latest swap.

Since the war began, Ukrainian military intelligence says 2,430 Ukrainians have been freed in prisoner swaps, including 139 civilians.

Here are four maps charting the latest developments of the war.

A Swedish appeals court upheld a lower court ruling that a former security services and armed forces employee was spying for Russia over the past decade.

In January, Peyman Kia, 42, was convicted of espionage and unauthorised handling of classified information and sentenced to life imprisonment.

His younger brother Payam Kia was also sentenced in the same court to nine years and 10 months for spying.

Russia’s Foreign Ministry summons the ambassadors of Germany, Sweden and Denmark to protest over a “complete lack of results” in their investigations to identify who blew up the Nord Stream gas pipelines.

“It has been noted that these countries are not interested in establishing the true circumstances of this sabotage. On the contrary, they are delaying their efforts and trying to conceal the tracks and the true perpetrators of the crime behind which we believe are well-known countries,” the ministry said in a statement.

“It is no coincidence that ‘leaked’ improbable versions [of what happened] are dumped in the media to try to muddy the waters.”

Sweden and Denmark have both said last September’s pipeline explosions were deliberate, but have yet to determine who was responsible.

Click here for a roundup of key events on day 456 of the war.

• War comes home to Russia: Pro-Kyiv fighters seek Putin’s downfall
• Leader of anti-Putin force says expect more Russian border raids
• Wagner chief says 20,000 of its troops killed in Bakhmut battle
• Ukraine and Russia trade places in battle for Bakhmut

Russia’s Belgorod region was hit by cross-border attacks this week; its governor reported on Monday that a “Ukrainian sabotage group” had entered the territory.

But as Ukraine denied the allegation, the Russian Volunteer Corps, comprised of far-right Russian nationalists forced out of the country, claimed responsibility, along with The Freedom of Russia Legion.

For some Corps fighters, the decision to fight for Ukraine goes back to 2014, when Moscow annexed Crimea.

Read more here.

China’s Ukraine envoy Li Hui will meet with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in Moscow on Friday, the Russian foreign ministry said.

“On May 26, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Galuzin is scheduled to meet with the special representative of the Chinese government for Eurasian Affairs, Li Hui,” a statement said.

“On the same day, Li Hui will be received by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.”

Li, a former ambassador to Moscow, has been on an extended tour to Ukraine, Poland, France and Germany.