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Russian forces shelled nine communities in Sumy Oblast on May 28, firing close to 50 rounds from various types of weapons, the Sumy Oblast Military Administration reported on Telegram.
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“The Air Defense Forces of Ukraine. You heard the air raid alarm differently than most people,” President Volodymyr Zelensky said in the aftermath of Russia's overnight attack on Kyiv on May 28. “You look up to destroy enemy missiles, aircraft, helicopters, and drones. Every time you shoot down enemy drones and missiles, lives are saved.”
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Kyiv's air defenses shot down over 40 drones Russia launched at the capital overnight on May 28, in what the Kyiv City Military Administration says was the largest drone attack on the city since the start of Russia's full-scale invasion.
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Investigation finds Russia evading sanctions through Kazakhstan

by The Kyiv Independent news desk May 20, 2023 1:44 AM 1 min read
This audio is created with AI assistance

Despite Western sanctions intended to prevent the import of drones and other technology to Russia, sensitive electronics are still finding their way to the Russian military through companies recently established by Russians in Kazakhstan, an investigation by the OCCRP, German Der Spiegel, and Russian iStories found.

Investigators found that Kazakh trade data from 2022 strongly suggested that Kazakhstan was being used as an intermediary for Russia to import drones and advanced microchips, used in everything from missiles to demining robots, thereby evading Western sanctions.

According to trade data, Kazakhstan imported close to $5 million worth of drones, almost completely from China, and exported $1.23 million in drones to Russia. Before Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Kazakhstan imported so few drones they did not even appear in official import-export data, the investigation said.

The import of microchips more than doubled to over $75 million in 2022. Meanwhile the export of microchips from Kazakhstan to Russia was 70 times higher in 2022 from the year before, increasing from a meager $245,000 to $18 million, the investigation showed.

While Kazakhstan's foreign minister has said that his country is doing what it can to avoid sanctions evasion by Russia, he also said it is "very difficult," as Russia and Kazakhstan are part of the Eurasian Economic Union, meaning that trade between the two is not subject to customs checks, the investigation said.

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