As the war enters its 457th day, we review key developments.
Here is the state of affairs on Friday, May 26, 2023.
To fight
- Wagner troops began withdrawing from Ukraine’s eastern city of Bakhmut and will hand over positions to the Russian army, said mercenary group leader Yevgeny Prigozhin.
- Prigozhin said he would return the bodies of a US citizen killed in fighting in Bakhmut and a Turkish civilian found dead in a blown-up building.
- Mykhailo Podolyak, a Ukrainian presidential aide, told the Reuters news agency that Ukraine had nothing to do with a “strange and senseless” drone attack on the Kremlin, downplaying the findings of two US media reports that claimed otherwise.
- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s chief of staff said Kiev had secured the release of 106 prisoners of war in an exchange with Russia. The soldiers, including eight officers, were captured during fighting in Bakhmut.
Diplomacy
Weapons
- The US defense secretary said European allies are developing a coordinated program to train Ukrainian pilots on the F-16 fighter jets.
- The Finnish government said it will send additional military equipment to Ukraine, including anti-aircraft weapons and ammunition, at a total cost of 109 million euros ($120 million).
- Sweden could allow Ukrainian pilots to test its Gripen fighter jets, the defense minister told broadcaster TV4.
- Zelenskyy urged Iranians to reconsider supplying deadly drones to Russia to avoid sliding into “the dark side of history”. Iranian-made Shahed-136 drones supplied to Moscow have played a major role in Russia’s attacks on cities and infrastructure, though Zelenskyy said Kyiv’s air defenses were now adept at shooting them down.
.