500 days after the invasion, the United States announced it would supply Ukraine with cluster munitions, banned in more than 120 countries, for its counteroffensive against Russian forces, and the NATO leader said the military alliance would meet at a summit next week to decide how to bring Ukraine closer. to membership. Human rights groups and the UN secretary-general have questioned Washington’s decision on the munitions, part of an $800 million package of security measures that brings total US military aid since Russia’s February 2022 invasion of Ukraine to more than $40 billion.

Highlights of the war in Ukraine, day 500, LIVETEXT:

09:16 According to ISW, the Ukrainian counteroffensive made “tactically significant” gains in the Bakhmut area and continued operations in at least three other areas of the front line.

The Institute for the Study of War says geolocation images have shown Ukrainian forces gaining significant ground near villages north and south of Bakhmut, regaining control of previously lost positions in the area.

The military confirmed the continuation of offensive actions in the west of Zaporizhia and along the border of Zaporizhzhia and Donetsk regions.

The Russian Ministry of Defense and other Russian sources reported that Ukrainian troops were conducting offensive operations in the direction of Kreminnaya, along the Kharkiv-Luhansk border.

A brief summary of recent events:

• As Jens Stoltenberg answered when he was asked whether the radioactive cloud that arose as a result of sabotage at the Zaporizhzhia power plant could trigger Article 5 of the NATO Treaty
• The United States has officially announced that it will supply Ukraine with cluster munitions, crossing an important threshold in the type of weapons offered to Kiev to defend against Russia, AFP reports.
• Russia and Ukraine announced the exchange of prisoners of war, which involves the return of 45 soldiers from both sides, Reuters reports. According to the human rights defender, most of the released Ukrainian soldiers are “severely wounded”.
• Belarus’ assistant defense minister on Friday refused to confirm or deny whether Russian tactical nuclear weapons were stored at a facility in Osipovichi, central Belarus, Reuters reported.
• What 3 steps should be taken to bring Ukraine closer to NATO
• As Jens Stoltenberg answered when he was asked whether the radioactive cloud that arose as a result of sabotage at the Zaporizhzhia power plant could trigger Article 5 of the NATO Treaty
• Wagner’s mercenaries left the Central African Republic in recent days

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