Russian forces attacked 10 communities in Sumy Oblast on May 15, killing one civilian and injuring another, the Sumy Oblast Military Administration reported.
A fire broke out at the Belbek airfield in northwest Sevastopol in the evening of May 15, several Telegram monitoring channels reported. Explosions were also heard in Sevastopol, Simferopol, Dzhankoi and Hvardiiske.
Editor's note: We asked members of the Kyiv Independent community to share the questions they have about the war. Here's what they asked and how we answered. Join our community to ask a question in the next round.
Read our previous answers here, here, here, here, and here
What do
Ukraine implemented rolling blackouts on May 15 due to power shortages caused by Russian attacks, Ukraine's state-owned energy operator Ukrenergo announced.
London-listed shares in the two banks, TBC and Bank of Georgia, plummeted to their lowest single-day declines since the spring of 2020, at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic.
"We're working intensively on the diplomatic front to convince those who haven't yet announced their participation," Nicolas Bideau, head of communications at the Swiss Foreign Ministry, told Swiss public radio RTS.
Key developments on May 15:
* Zelensky: Ukraine stabilizes situation in Kharkiv Oblast amid Russian offensive
* General Staff: Russian forces 'partially pushed out' from Vovchansk
* Ukraine deploys more forces to Kharkiv Oblast
* Blinken: US to give Ukraine additional $2 billion in military financing
* Source: Ukraine's military intelligence drones strike oil depot
The Royal Romance, a 92-meter (300-foot) luxury yacht worth an estimated 200 million euros ($218 million), was seized by Croatian authorities in March 2022.
Ukrainian forces have managed to stabilize the situation in Kharkiv Oblast over the past day amid Russia's attempts to break through, President Volodymyr Zelensky said on May 15 in his evening address.
Dmytro Kozatskyi, call sign "Orest," is a Ukrainian soldier who formerly headed the press service of the Azov regiment. In this video, Kozatskyi breaks down his famous photographs and shares his memories about the Russian siege of Mariupol.
Defense Minister Rustem Umerov dismissed Brigadier General Serhii Baranov from his position as head of the Missile, Artillery, and Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) Forces, the division announced on May 14.
President Volodymyr Zelensky could meet with U.S. President Joe Biden to sign a bilateral security agreement in the "coming weeks," U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on May 15.
The forecast was still lower than the one reported by Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov in April, who claimed that the country's GDP would grow by 3.6% in 2024.
Austria's Raiffeisen Bank International (RBI) was warned by the U.S. Treasury that its access to the U.S. financial system could be curbed due to its continued presence in the Russian market, Reuters reported on May 15.
Ukrainian forces repelled Russian attacks in the Vovchansk direction in Kharkiv Oblast and "partially pushed out enemy forces from the town," the General Staff of Ukraine's Armed Forces said on May 15.
Blinken was asked about recent Ukrainian complaints that a Washington ban meant Ukraine could not strike Russian forces as they built up before crossing the border into Kharkiv Oblast.
A Russian aerial bomb strike injured two nurses and a doctor in Mala Danylivka, a village on the outskirts of Kharkiv, the community's head, Oleksandr Hololobov, told Suspilne Kharkiv on May 15.
Russian forces launched an attack against the eastern city of Dnipro on May 15, killing at least two people and damaging infrastructure, Governor Serhii Lysak reported.
Small Russian infantry units have entered Vovchansk in Kharkiv Oblast and are trying to gain a foothold in the northern part of town, Defense Ministry spokesperson Dmytro Lazutkin said on air on May 15.
More Ukrainian forces are being deployed to Kharkiv Oblast amid Russia's offensive in the region, President Volodymyr Zelensky announced on May 15, following a meeting with top military commanders.
Speaking on national TV, Mayor Ihor Terekhov said around 6,000 people from the surrounding oblast who lived closer to the front lines had been taken to the city and housed in dormitories.
Heavy battles are ongoing in Kharkiv Oblast, but the situation has somewhat stabilized, Nazar Voloshyn, the spokesperson of the Khortytsia group of forces, said on air on May 15.
Support independent journalism in Ukraine.
Join us in this fight.
Freedom can be costly. Both Ukraine and its journalists are paying a high price for their independence. Support independent journalism in its darkest hour. Support us for as little as $1, and it only takes a minute.
Zelensky also said that Ukraine successfully repels Russian assaults in Donetsk Oblast, including the area near the city of Chasiv Yar, which became one of the main strategic targets.
U.K. Defense Secretary Grant Shapps on May 19 urged Berlin and other allies to send long-range missiles to Ukraine and to allow Kyiv to hit facilities in Russian-occupied Crimea.
London also sent Kyiv more than 30 pallets of parts, including anti-mine equipment, over a million rounds of small arms ammunition, 20 Viking armored amphibious vehicles, and over 4,000 items of military clothing.
A helicopter carrying Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and his foreign minister crashed on May 19 as it flew over a mountainous area in Iran through heavy fog.
The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) in conjunction with the country's new Unmanned Systems Forces, launched a drone attack on Russia's Kushchevskaya military airbase and Slavyansk oil refinery plant overnight, Ukrainska Pravda reported on May 19.
Five people were killed and nine injured in Russian strikes on villages in the Kupiansk district of Kharkiv Oblast, local authorities reported on May 19.
At least six people were injured in Ukraine's Kherson Oblast after a series of Russian attacks on May 19, the Kherson Regional Military Administration said.
President Volodymyr Zelensky said that he anticipates the upcoming peace summit in Switzerland will yield an action plan addressing three key areas: free navigation to protect port infrastructure, global food security, and Ukraine's economic development.
The French dairy products company Danone has finalized the sale of its Russian operations, accounting for about 5% of its global sales, after more than 30 years in the country.
Russian forces attacked ten border areas and settlements of Sumy Oblast on May 18, firing 46 times and causing at least 284 explosions, the Sumy Oblast Military Administration reported.
Olena Berezhna, the National Police's spokeswoman, told Suspilne that truckers gathered in Kyrovohrad and Odesa oblasts. Later in the day, Suspilne reported that traffic on the Kyiv-Odesa highway had been restored.
Lieutenant Colonel Vasyliuk, the brigade’s chief of staff and a deputy commander of an aviation squadron, was killed “recently” while conducting a combat mission, the brigade said.
Chasiv Yar, a largely destroyed town, has been seen as Russia’s next target after the fall of Bakhmut, while Ukraine's second-largest city, Kharkiv, is also a major Russian target.