Here are the significant events on day 1,184 of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Here is the situation as of Friday, May 23:
Combat Operations
- Ukrainian drones interfered with air traffic around Moscow on Thursday, causing the grounding of flights at several significant airports. Russia’s Ministry of Defence stated that 35 drones targeting the city were destroyed.
- According to the Ministry and Moscow’s mayor’s office, a total of 46 Ukrainian drones aimed at Russia’s capital were recorded, with an additional 70 drones launched against other targets nationwide.
- Ukraine’s air force reported that Russia launched 128 drones against Ukraine overnight. Out of these, 112 drones were either shot down, jammed, or lost en route to their intended targets.
- Russia reported that 12 civilians were injured during a “substantial” Ukrainian strike on Lgov, a town in Russia’s Kursk region.
- Valerii Zaluzhnyi, the former chief of Ukraine’s military who frequently disagreed with President Volodymyr Zelensky, expressed doubt that Ukraine could reclaim its 1991 borders following the Russian invasion in 2014. He also expressed skepticism that even maintaining the pre-2022 invasion borders may not be feasible.
- “I hope that there are no people in this room still anticipating a miracle or a fortunate sign that will bring peace to Ukraine, restore the borders of 1991 or 2022, and lead to great joy thereafter,” Zaluzhnyi commented at a forum in Kyiv.
- Russia has confirmed receiving a list of names from Ukraine for a prisoner of war exchange. A previous meeting in Istanbul between Russian and Ukrainian representatives agreed to a mutual swap of 1,000 prisoners from each side.
Regional Security
- Finland is closely monitoring a Russian military buildup along its 1,340km (832-mile) border with Russia. This decision followed the closure of the border in December 2023 due to the unauthorized crossing of 1,000 migrants without visas.
Economic Developments
- After a meeting in Canada, the G7’s finance ministers announced they would consider further sanctions on Russia if no ceasefire is reached with Ukraine. They also committed to ensuring that any countries or entities enabling Russia’s aggression will not benefit from Ukraine’s reconstruction efforts.
- Moscow is proposing legislation to prevent foreign companies from reclaiming assets left behind when they exited Russia following the 2022 invasion. The bill would allow Russian citizens and companies to refuse to return these assets to foreign investors under certain conditions.
