The focus of the fighting in Ukraine has shifted to the road to Mariupol, where the Ukrainian offensive is slowly pushing back Russian forces and British Challenger tanks are ready to engage, said Hanna Malyar, deputy defense minister. She said that the most active battles are no longer around Bakhmut, in the east of Donetsk region, but in the south, namely in the direction of the two seaside cities of Berdyansk and Mariupol.

Highlights of the war in Ukraine, day 479, LIVETEXT:

00:54 Zelensky cryptically mentioned the head of military intelligence Kirill Budanov, who, according to Moscow, was seriously wounded

00:33 President Biden removes another obstacle to Ukraine’s accession to NATO

00:10 Every meter of reclaimed land is extremely important, says Zelenskyi

A brief summary of recent events:

• NATO defense ministers failed on Friday to agree on new plans for how the alliance would respond to Russia’s attack, with one diplomat accusing Turkey of blocking consensus.
• High-ranking Russian officials said on Friday that the agreement on the transportation of grain through the Black Sea cannot be extended under the current conditions.
• Zelensky again ruled out any talks with Russia after a meeting with African leaders who came to try to mediate between Kyiv and Moscow. The African leaders of the peacekeeping mission were taken to a bomb shelter on Friday due to a massive Russian missile attack on Kyiv. They came up with a plan that involves the withdrawal of Russian troops from Ukraine.
• On Friday, Vladimir Putin confirmed that Moscow has already moved tactical nuclear weapons to Belarus, which was also announced by the President of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko, a few days ago.
• Zelensky is a “shame” for the Jewish people, a “serious danger” facing NATO, and a warning from the center of Kyiv – what Putin said about Ukraine. Ukraine will soon be left without its own military equipment, the head of the Kremlin said. Putin gave a big speech in St. Petersburg, where he said that the Russian economy could grow by 2% this year.
• On Friday, at the St. Petersburg economic forum organized by President Putin, a funny moment happened when the Lada car, the new pride of the Russian auto industry, did not start.
• Former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger said in an interview with Bloomberg that Vladimir Putin is “unlikely” to survive in power after the defeat in Ukraine.
• “Conclusion with a degree of reliability of more than 80%”: Who destroyed the Kakhovskaya dam, believes the international group of experts who went to Kherson.
• Ukraine could shift its main offensive against Russian forces in a way similar to what the Allies did during World War II during Operation Cobra, says military analyst Lukasz Wiesinger.
• Putin, whose name is the subject of an arrest warrant issued by the ICC in March, may visit Turkey, a NATO member, at the invitation of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
• Russian troops on the territory of the Republic of Moldova in the separatist region of Transnistria are the least combat-capable of the Russian army, according to analyst Dara Masikot from the RAND Corporation.

—————-

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