May 26, 2022 | Daily briefing

00:15 

Along the entire defence line in eastern Ukraine, Russian  invaders are trying to advance, shelling villages and  launching missile and bomb strikes. 

01:40 

In Zaporizhia, Russian invaders have brought an  echelon of obsolete T-62 tanks to Melitopol, as well as  30 pieces of equipment to the village of Kyrylivka.  According to local residents, there are APCs at almost  every intersection. 

There is a possibility that Kyrylivka recreation center could  become a haven for occupiers and, as a result, suffer looting, like in Berdyansk. 

08:00 

The enemy is storming the defences near the village of.  Ustinovka, destroying this village and the nearby town of  Lysychansk with artillery. 

As a result, two people were killed in Ustynivka and one in  Lysychansk. Destruction included multi-storey buildings,  private houses, an enterprise building and a cultural centre. 

09:45 

In occupied Mariupol, the Russians have extended the  school year until the end of the summer to integrate  schools into the Russian education system. The main  purpose of this, according to Mariupol city mayor’s adviser  Petro Andryushchenko, is de-Ukrainianization. 

10:15 

The Russians are forming the third line of defence in  the occupied territories of southern Ukraine

The grouping deployed by the Russian Federation includes  air and sea components in addition to ground forces. This  may indicate that “Russia wants to stay for a long time,”  said Vadim Skibitsky, a spokesman for the GUR. 

11:20 

Russia abducts Ukrainian children to destroy the  nation – statement by Sergei Dvornik, advisor to the  Permanent Mission of Ukraine to the UN. 

The kidnapping of at least 230,000 Ukrainian children  among the 1.4 million Ukrainian citizens forcibly deported  to Russia is a crime aimed at destroying the Ukrainian  nation by depriving its young generations, a modern  manifestation of colonialism,” the statement said. 

12:00 

Russia has already lost 29,600 troops, 1,315 tanks and 502  drones in the war with Ukraine 

12:45 

There is an informal agreement among NATO countries  not to supply aircraft and tanks to Ukraine. German  media interlocutors say NATO countries, despite their  support for Ukraine, are keen to prevent a direct  confrontation between the Alliance and Russia, so they  refuse to supply Kyiv with certain types of weapons. 

13:00 

AFU destroyed the Russian roadblock on the Lysychansk Bakhmut highway. The Russian army does not control the  Lysychansk-Bakhmut highway, the head of the Luhansk  regional military administration Sergey Gaidai said. 

13:25 

Lithuanian law enforcers have joined prosecutors of the  Specialised Prosecutor’s Office for Military and Defence of  the Joint Forces in collecting evidence of Russian  Federation crimes in Ukraine. 

14:10 

Turkey mediates talks between Russia and Ukraine to  unblock Ukrainian ports for grain exports to other countries  around the world. 

15:50 

The Verkhovna Rada has registered a draft law amending  some laws on Ukraine’s sanctions policy against Belarus. It  provides for the seizure of property of Belarus and its  residents. 

16:30 

Deputy Defense Minister Anna Malyar said that the  Russians are storming Ukrainian positions simultaneously  in several directions, the situation tends to escalate, the  intensity of fighting is growing. 

17:50 

Russian troops in the south tried to bypass AFU positions  near Mykolaiv with a reinforced platoon, supported by 2  tanks and 3 BMPs. However, Ukraine sent Mi-8 helicopters  against them, which eliminated up to 7 occupants and  destroyed one BMP. Having received a strong repulse, the  enemy retreated to their defensive lines. 

19:35 

In the Mykolaiv region workers of the State Bureau of  Investigation have seized 188 wagons with mineral  fertilizers belonging to a Belarusian company. The value of  this property together with the Belarusian wagons is about  $20 million. 

20:00 

The AFU General Staff reports that the occupants are  rotating reserves in the Donetsk direction. 

21:00 

Russia has moved 13 battalion-tactical groups into Ukraine,  CNN reports.