RUSSIAN PERSPECTIVE
Drone-bombs hit Russian border region – governor
Ukrainian forces targeted several settlements in Russia’s Belgorod region with explosive-carrying drones on Monday night, according to governor Vyacheslav Gladkov. The region was placed under the “anti-terrorism operation” regulations in the wake of a raid by a Ukrainian saboteur group.
Late in the evening, several improvised explosive devices were dropped on civilian houses in the town Grayvoron, which is located some 7 kilometers from the Ukrainian border, Gladkov confirmed on Telegram. Two houses caught fire, but there were no casualties, the official added.
Grayvoron is the administrative center of the district that had been targeted in a Ukrainian intrusion earlier in the day.
A similar attack happened in the settlement of Borisovka, 25 kilometers further away from the border, where at least two bombs were dropped from drones on an “administrative building,” Gladkov said shortly after midnight. Several hours later, yet another drone attacked a civilian house in the same village.
A group of saboteurs crossed from Ukraine into Belgorod region earlier on Monday, forcing the governor to introduce “anti-terrorism operation” regulations and provide additional power to law enforcement to deal with the threat. At least eight civilians were wounded during the intrusion.
** Hungary opposes new EU sanctions, military assistance to Ukraine — top diplomat
Budapest opposes a number of key provisions in the 11th package of sanctions on Russia developed by the European Commission and will not support giving any additional military assistance from the European Peace Facility until its OTP Bank is taken off of Ukraine’s list of international war sponsors, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said on Monday.
He recalled that EU countries want to increase military assistance to Ukraine from the European Peace Facility to the tune of 500 million euro. "We demand the Ukrainians remove OTP from the list of international war sponsors. Until that happens, we will not give our consent to allocate these 500 million euro to EU countries as compensation for their spending on weapons to Ukraine," he told Hungarian journalists during a break in the meeting of the EU foreign ministers in Brussels.
The top diplomat’s press conference was broadcast live on his Facebook page (Facebook is banned in Russia due to its ownership by Meta, which has been designated as extremist).
On May 4, Ukraine’s National Agency on Corruption Prevention put Hungary’s OTP Bank Group, which continues to operate in Russia, on the list of international sponsors of war. Szijjarto slammed this decision as "scandalous and unacceptable."
As of today, he stressed, Hungary’s largest bank, OTP, "had not violated a single national or international law" and its blacklisting in Ukraine is absolutely illegal.
The top Hungarian diplomat also recalled that his country’s government was against weapons supplies to Ukraine in general and would not budge from this position. "Weapons supplies are fraught with the risk of escalating the war and the longer this war continues, the more people will die," he stressed.
Touching on the 11th package of anti-Russian sanctions, which was also a topic of discussion for the EU foreign ministers, the Hungarian minister noted, "Brussels should have learned a lesson from the consequences of the sanctions."
"Sanctions are more harmful to Europe than they are to Russia and I think that the 10th package of sanctions should not be followed by an 11th, which would turn out to be a true test for Europe in general and the economy of European countries," he said, adding that Hungary opposed additional restrictions for European companies in terms of trading in Russian goods, as well as sanctions on Chinese companies suspected of cooperating with Russia.
He also reiterated that Hungary will oppose any EU sanctions that would restrict cooperation with Russia in the field of nuclear energy. "Despite the pressure that’s being exerted on us, we will strongly oppose any kind of sanctions affecting the nuclear industry, because that concerns Hungary's energy security. In no case will we risk the security of Hungary's energy supply," he said.
Apart from that, Szijjarto stressed that Budapest will continue to demand that the Ukrainian authorities restore the rights of the Hungarian minority in the Zakarpattia Region. Until this problem is settled, Hungary will not support Kiev’s aspirations to integrate into the European Union, he pledged.
Summing up the results of the ministerial meeting, the Hungarian minister noted that no decision had been made about using the European Peace Facility to further finance weapons supplies to Ukraine. "No decision on sanctions was made either," he said.
French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna said earlier on Monday that the 11th package of sanctions could be agreed before the next EU ministerial meeting in June. Talks on this topic continue. At the same time, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell has admitted that not only Hungary but a number of other countries object to the 11th package.
WESTERN PERSPECTIVE
Russia fights cross-border raid that Ukraine says is Russian opposition
Russia said on Monday it was battling a cross-border incursion by saboteurs who burst through the frontier from Ukraine, in what appeared to be one of the biggest attacks of its kind since the war began 15 months ago.
The governor of Russia's Belgorod region, Vyacheslav Gladkov, said a Ukrainian "sabotage group" had entered Russian territory in the Graivoron district bordering Ukraine and was being repelled.
But the Ukrainian outlet Hromadske cited Ukrainian military intelligence as saying two armed Russian opposition groups, the Liberty of Russia Legion and the Russian Volunteer Corps, both consisting of Russian citizens, were responsible for the attack.
A Ukrainian presidential adviser said on Twitter that the Kyiv government was watching the situation with interest but "has nothing to do with it".
The Russia Volunteer Corps published video footage late on Monday which showed what it said was a fighter inspecting a captured armoured vehicle. Another video showed what it said were fighters operating an armoured vehicle on a country road.
Other videos posted on Russian and Ukrainian social media channels showed pictures and video of what were described as captured Russian servicemen and their identity documents.
Reuters was not able to independently verify the situation.
GOVERNOR IMPOSES 'COUNTER-TERRORIST' MEASURES
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russian President Vladimir Putin had been informed and that work was under way to drive out the "saboteurs", the state-run RIA Novosti news agency reported.
Belgorod governor Gladkov said on Telegram that at least eight people had been wounded and three houses and an administrative building damaged. In a later briefing streamed on social media, Gladkov said a large part of the local population had left and that he had imposed a "counter-terrorist operation" that restricts movement and communications.
The Telegram channel Baza, which has links to Russia's security services, said there were indications of fighting in three settlements along the main road leading into Russia. The "Open Belgorod" Telegram channel said power and water had been cut off to several villages.
The Liberty of Russia Legion said on Twitter it had "completely liberated" the border town of Kozinka. It said forward units had reached the district centre of Graivoron, further east.
"Moving on. Russia will be free!" it wrote.
Ukrainian social media users made regular reference to what they called the "Belgorod People's Republic" - a nod to events in eastern Ukraine in 2014 when Russia-backed militias purporting to be rebels against the Kyiv government declared "people’s republics" in the eastern Ukrainian provinces of Donetsk and Luhansk. Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February last year.
BAKHMUT BATTLE RAGES ON
The Kremlin said the incursion aimed to distract attention from the eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut, which Russian forces claim to have captured in its entirety after more than nine months of fighting.
Moscow says capturing Bakhmut opens the way to further advances in the eastern industrial region known as the Donbas bordering Russia. Ukraine says its advance on the Russian forces' flanks is more meaningful than its withdrawal inside Bakhmut itself, and Russia will have to weaken its lines elsewhere to send reinforcements to hold the shattered city.
There were 25 clashes on the main sectors of the frontline with the epicentre of fighting remaining Bakhmut and Maryinka further south, the General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces said in a statement on Monday night.
Russian forces continued offensive actions including air strikes on Bakhmut and on the village of Ivanivske on its western fringe, the statement said. At least 12 towns and villages in the area came under shell fire, including Bakhmut and Ivanivske, it said.
Separately on Bakhmut, Serhiy Cherevatyi, spokesperson for the eastern group of Ukrainian forces, told Ukrainian television: "In the past 24 hours, Ukrainian troops have made steady progress, advancing 250-400 metres on the flanks and establishing a foothold. Even though these advances are gradual, it is better when such advances are well planned."
Reuters could not independently verify the reports.
Meanwhile, the United Nations expressed concern on Monday that Ukraine's Black Sea port of Pivdennyi (Yuzhny) has not received any ships since May 2 under a deal allowing the safe wartime export of grain and fertilizer.
RT/Tass/Reuters