The United States said it would soon begin training Ukrainian troops to use Abrams tanks, and Germany announced an agreement to establish a repair center in Poland for tanks stationed in Ukraine.

Basic information about the war in Ukraine, day 423, TEXT:

09:18 The latest key events at the front, according to the Institute for the Study of War:

• The Moscow army carried out limited ground attacks on the line Kupyansk – Svatove – Kremina.
• Russian troops continued to advance in the area of ​​Bakhmut, but did not complete the decisive maneuver around the city.
• Russian troops continued their offensive on the Avdiyivka-Donetsk front and conducted a limited ground offensive in the west of the Donetsk region.
• Russian sources said that Ukrainian troops took up positions on the eastern (left) bank of the Kherson region.

09:00 Austin: In recent months, the Allies have delivered more than 230 tanks to Ukraine.

Ukraine’s defense contact group has handed over more than 230 tanks and 1,550 armored vehicles “in just a few months,” US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said after a meeting at the Ramstein base on Friday.

Zelensky hints that a counteroffensive is not far off

08:55 The Ukrainian military destroyed four of the five Iranian-made Shahed drones that Russia launched into Ukraine on Friday evening, the BBC reported in Telegram, the Kyiv Independent reports.

The Air Force said Russian forces had launched drones into Ukraine from its southeastern border, but did not say where the drones were headed or whether there were any casualties or damage.

07:51 AFP report: the life of the only family doctor left in Siversk, a bomb-ravaged city in eastern Ukraine

01:30VIDEO Zelensky: Now we all have to maintain unity, mobilization and full focus on defense

00:48 “They were very aggressive!” The President of the Parliament of the Republic of Moldova explains the incident with the leader of Tatarstan

00:10 Reznikov reports that Ukraine has received a “green light” for cooperation with the NATO procurement agency

A brief summary of recent events:

• The US decision to supply Ukraine with 31 advanced M1A2 Abrams tanks will make a difference in the war, but it is not a silver bullet, General Mark Milley, the US Army chief of staff, said on Friday.
• Six German-made Leopard 2A4 tanks intended for Ukraine have left Spain by ship, according to the Navy’s monitoring website.
• Allies strengthen Ukrainian tank forces before counteroffensive: “Putin cannot play with time, we will endure”
• Ukraine has demanded long-range weapons, aircraft and ammunition from allies, while the US held a meeting at Germany’s Ramstein Air Base on Friday to discuss increasing support for Kyiv.
• The Russian Defense Ministry said the paratroopers were fighting in the western parts of Bakhmut, the last part of the Ukrainian city still in the hands of Kyiv’s forces. Ukraine has said that Russian forces have made some progress in the fight for Bakhmut, but that the situation is under control.
• NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg said NATO allies have agreed that Ukraine will eventually become a member and that Ukrainian President Zelensky has been invited to attend the summit of the Western military alliance in July. The Russian Foreign Ministry said that NATO’s statements regarding Ukraine’s accession to the alliance are “dangerous”
• A Moscow court has ordered the arrest in absentia of Bulgarian investigative journalist Kristo Grozev, whose reporting for Bellingcat has angered Russia. “Why aren’t they poisoning us in absentia?!”, the journalist reacted.
• Ukrainian state gas company Naftogaz has held talks with Exxon Mobil, Halliburton and Chevron about projects in Ukraine as the government in Kyiv seeks to attract foreign investment back into its energy sector.
• A deal allowing safe exports of Ukrainian grain to the Black Sea could come into effect next week after Russia said it would not approve any new vessels unless their operators guarantee transit by May 18.
• Ukraine’s prospects for unblocking grain supplies to Eastern Europe have improved, as Romania has abandoned a unilateral ban on food imports, Reuters notes. Ukraine announces that it is “restoring Bastro as an alternative route” for grain exports.
• Viktor Orban wants to put sticks in the wheels of Ukraine in NATO. Hungarian PM questions accession after Stoltenberg says all allies agree
• The head of the Main Directorate of Intelligence of Ukraine, General Kyrylo Budanov, reacted sharply to the news that Russia had issued a warrant for his arrest, saying that he could finally be satisfied.
• On Friday, the Kremlin again denied any plans to launch a second mobilization campaign to send people to Ukraine in response to reports of student conscription
• Kazakhstan increased oil exports to bypass Russia in the first quarter of 2023 in an effort to reduce its dependence on its big neighbor.
• Lithuania intends to disconnect its energy grid from Russia’s to test its ability to cut the last energy link it has with Moscow.

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• Friday’s events were broadcast LIVE on HotNews.ro