Damage to Russian warship, new prisoner exchange: highlights of the day

Prisoner exchange

Ukraine has returned 106 soldiers who defended the Bakhmut axis from Russian captivity. Among them are eight officers and 98 soldiers and sergeants.

68 people who were returned home were considered missing.

Damage to Russian ship

During an attack in the Black Sea, one of the Ukrainian naval drones managed to hit the Russian Black Sea Fleet reconnaissance ship Ivan Khurs. Sources in military circles confirmed to us that the Russian vessel was damaged as a result of the attack, but it is not yet known how much.

Occupiers destroyed a dam in Donetsk Oblast

Russian occupation troops destroyed the dam of the Karlivka Reservoir in Donetsk Oblast, putting the villages of Halytsynivka, Zhelanne-1 and Zhelanne-2 under the threat of flooding.

The regional authorities have warned the communities in the area of possible flooding. If necessary, evacuation of civilians will begin. A headquarters to overcome the consequences of this emergency has also been set up at the Regional Military Administration.

Wagner starts to leave Bakhmut

The head of the Wagner PMC, Yevgeny Prigozhin, said that his fighters, who are stationed in the area of Bakhmut in Donetsk Oblast, have started to leave the city, being replaced by regular army units.

Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Malyar said that the occupiers are now bringing additional units to the flanks to reinforce them. In the suburbs of Bakhmut, the Russians replaced Wagner units with regular army units. In Bakhmut itself, there are still Wagner units.

As of the morning of May 25, according to Malyar, Ukrainian troops control the outskirts of the city in the southwestern part of the city in the "Litak" area.

Agreements between Armenia and Azerbaijan

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said that his country and Azerbaijan had agreed to recognize each other's territorial integrity.

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev noted that his country has no territorial claims to Armenia, and there is a "possibility" of Baku and Yerevan reaching a peace agreement given that Armenia has recognized Karabakh as part of Azerbaijan.

Fake about Zaluzhnyi's injury

The Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Valerii Zaluzhnyi feels well and continues to plan the liberation of Ukrainian lands from the occupiers, said Colonel Anatoliy Shtefan and showed Zaluzhnyi on video.

In the video, Valerii Zaluzhnyi thanked all Ukrainians and added that "together we will definitely win, and not just today."

Sentence for murder of five-year-old Kyrylo Tlyavov

Six days before the fourth anniversary of the death of five-year-old Kyrylo Tlyavov, the court announced the verdict in the case. Former police officer Ivan Prykhodko was found guilty of murder and sentenced to four years in prison. Two other defendants in the case were acquitted, and the court sentenced another police officer, Volodymyr Petrovets, to a 2-year probationary period.

The prosecutor's office decided to appeal the verdicts.

In 2019, 5-year-old Kyrylo was playing with his friends on the street in the town of Pereiaslav-Khmelnytskyi. At the same time, police officers were drinking and shooting at tin cans near the place where the children were. Kyrylo was shot in the head, and the boy died. The court announced the verdict six days before the fourth anniversary of his death.

Russia closes its consulate general in Sweden

The Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced that it is closing its Consulate General in Sweden and at the same time terminating the activities of the Swedish Consulate General in Russia, as well as expelling five diplomats of this country. In particular, because of the "continuous Russophobic campaign in Sweden".

In other news

• The Lower House of the British Parliament recognized the Holodomor as genocide of the Ukrainian people.
• Russia and Belarus sign a document on the deployment of tactical nuclear weapons.
• US intelligence believes that Ukraine may be behind the drone attack on the Kremlin.
• Sweden will allow Ukrainian pilots to train on Gripen fighters, but will not be able to transfer the jets themselves.
• Two more heads of regional gas companies have been charged in the Firtash case.
• Finland transfers the 16th package of weapons to Ukraine. Military aid from the Finns has already exceeded €1 billion.
• President Volodymyr Zelenskyy dismissed the head of the SBU in Khmelnytskyi Oblast and appointed Vasyl Malyuk's deputy.