Ukraine to receive long-range missiles, Georgia calls for sanctions against Russia: today's highlights

Military assistance from the UK

British Defence Secretary Ben Wallace announced that the UK will send Ukraine long-range Storm Shadow cruise missiles, which will “allow Ukraine to push Russian forces back from Ukrainian sovereign territory”. The number of missiles and delivery time were not specified.

According to CNN, Ukraine has assured the UK that these missiles will be used only within the sovereign territory of Ukraine, and not to strike at Russian territory.

In addition, Wallace said that the British Challenger 2 battle tanks that the UK sent to the Defense Forces had already been delivered to Ukraine.

Occupiers do not stop shelling

On May 11, the Russian occupation forces did not stop shelling the regions of Ukraine. In the morning, the Russians shelled Sloviansk with S-300 missiles: a wounded 93-year-old woman died in hospital, and her 64-year-old daughter was injured.

In the afternoon, Russia shelled Toretsk, Donetsk Oblast, with artillery and MLRS: 9 wounded are reported. Among the wounded is a whole family – parents and their 23-year-old son.

In Zaporizhzhia Oblast, the occupiers conducted 4 airstrikes on the Preobrazhenka community: houses and cars were damaged, and information about the victims is being clarified.

In Kharkiv Oblast, the occupiers attacked Vovchansk (one person was injured) and opened fire on the village of Velykyi Burluk (a 16-year-old girl and women aged 42 and 61 were injured).

As of 16:00, Russian troops shelled the border of Chernihiv and Sumy Oblasts 3 more times. There were no reports of casualties.

In Kherson Oblast, Russian artillery hit one of the educational institutions in Kherson, causing a fire. Later, the occupiers attacked Kherson again, hitting the territory of a municipal transport company. The enemy shelling damaged the roof of the building and a trolleybus. According to preliminary information, no people were injured.

Georgia is urged to join sanctions against Russia

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine has called Russia's decision to cancel visas for Georgians and resume air travel with Georgia a “deal with the devil”. The Ukrainian side considers this a political compensation for the refusal of the current Georgian authorities to impose sanctions on Russia, as well as for the slowdown in European integration.

Ukraine called on the Georgian government to synchronize its policy towards Russia with the EU's policy, and to refrain from actions that “reject Georgia's further European movement”. Similar calls were made by the European Union and the United States.

The U.S. State Department also emphasized that Georgian companies could face the risk of sanctions if they provide aircraft maintenance services to the Russian Federation.

Poland confirms the downing of a Russian missile

Poland's Minister of National Defense Mariusz Blaszczak confirmed that a Russian missile fell near the city of Bydgoszcz in December 2022.

The Polish army was aware of the object, which could have been a missile: it was warned by Ukraine and also recorded by Polish ground-based radar stations. However, General Tomasz Piotrowski, who is the operational commander, did not inform the Minister of Defense.

On the day of the missile's flight, the Defense Ministry received a report that there had been no violation of the country's airspace, but this turned out to be untrue.

According to the minister, Poland has already established cooperation with Ukraine and the United States to investigate the incident.

Other news:

• Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy may visit Rome in the coming days and meet with the Pope, media reports.
• The US says South Africa has been transferring weapons to Russia.
• Kateryna Shcherba, liaison to UPA commanders, died at the age of 95.
• Negotiations on the “grain deal” are completed in Istanbul: it was agreed to continue negotiations on the prolongation of the agreement and on the return of merchant ships stuck in Ukrainian ports.
• WHO no longer considers the monkeypox outbreak an emergency.
• Russians are “evicting” a church of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine in Simferopol.
• Lviv court explains why a guy was not punished for having sex at a public transport stop.
• Half of the dual-use goods disappeared in Russia during transit from the EU, FT reports.