May 20, 2023 Russia-Ukraine news

Russia's deputy foreign minister has warned Western countries of “enormous risks for themselves" if Ukraine is provided with F-16 fighter jets, Russian state media TASS reported Saturday.

"Movement is underway on the so-called escalation ladder," Alexander Grushko was quoted as saying on the sidelines of a meeting of the Russian Council on Foreign and Defense Policy. 

"We see that the Western countries are still adhering to the escalation scenario. It involves enormous risks for themselves. In any case, this will be taken into account in all our plans, and we have all the necessary means to achieve the set goals," Grushko added.

US President Joe Biden informed G7 leaders Friday that the US will support a joint effort with allies and partners to train Ukrainian pilots on advanced aircraft, including F-16s, a senior administration official told CNN. 

Biden reversed his previous objections to providing the fighter jets because he believes in equipping the country for a long-term fight against Russia, his top national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, told reporters Saturday in Japan.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has framed his pitch for Western fighter jets as a matter of his country's survival, now more than one year since Russia launched its full-scale invasion.

Russia launched another “massive drone attack” at Kyiv during the early hours of the morning, marking their eleventh airstrike this month, the city's military administration said Saturday.

“The enemy is doing its utmost to strike key targets in Kyiv city and simultaneously deplete our air defense resources,” the local military said in a statement.

“In this way, Russians are aiming at putting the civilian population under deep psychological stress. That is why they attack Kyiv from the air almost daily,” the statement added.

The air raid alarm in the Ukrainian capital has only been silent for four days in May due to the regular attacks in the region.

Russia used 20 Iranian-made Shahed drones and one of its Merlin reconnaissance UAVs in the latest assault, according to the statement. The Ukrainian Air Force identified and destroyed all of them, the military claimed, and no one was hurt or killed.

The attack did not significantly damage any major infrastructure, the Ukrainian officials added added.

Bombardment earlier this week: Tuesday morning similarly saw an aerial attack on the city, which Russia claimed to have destroyed a US-made Patriot air defense system, despite the Ukrainian military saying all 18 Russian missiles launched were intercepted and destroyed.

Two components of a Patriot battery were damaged in the attack but the system “was never offline," according to a US official familiar with the matter.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky thanked UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak for the leadership he says the UK has shown building an international coalition to help Ukraine procure F-16 fighter jets.  

The pair met during a bilateral meeting on Saturday in Hiroshima, Japan, during the G7 summit, according to a readout from the Ukrainian Presidency. 

Earlier this week, the UK and the Netherlands announced plans to build an "international coalition" to help Ukraine procure F-16 fighter jets "at this pivotal moment in the resistance to Putin’s invasion," a Downing Street readout said Tuesday. 

Getting hold of F-16 fighter jets has been a key focus for the Ukrainian leader of late, emphasizing in a taped address to the Copenhagen Democracy Summit on Monday that F-16s would help Ukraine in, “defending freedom.”  

On Friday, US President Joe Biden told G7 leaders that he will support the joint effort and train Ukrainian pilots on fourth generation aircrafts including F-16s, a stark turnaround from the US leader.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has assured his country will do “everything we can” to find a resolution to the war in Ukraine during his meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

The pair met on the sidelines of the Hiroshima's G7 summit Saturday, for the the first time since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine last year. 

"The war in Ukraine is a big issue for the whole world. It has also had many effects on the whole world. But I don't consider it to be just an issue of economy or politics. For me, it is an issue of humanity," Modi said.

“I will assure you that India and I, personally, will do everything we can to resolve it,” he added. 

Zelensky briefed Modi “in detail on the Ukrainian Peace Formula and invited India to join the implementation of this initiative,” a Ukrainian readout of the meeting said.  

The background: India has strong ties to Russia dating back to the Cold War, and remains heavily dependent on Moscow for its military equipment. More recently, the country ramped up purchases of Russian energy.

Although New Delhi has sent humanitarian aid to Ukraine throughout the course of the war, it has abstained from UN resolutions calling for its withdrawal and condemning its invasion.

Last year, Modi spoke to Putin of the need to “move onto a path of peace” during a face-to-face with the Russian leader on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit in Uzbekistan in September.

A series of Russian rocket strikes across Russian-held Donetsk in eastern Ukraine on Saturday has lead to fatalities and damaged infrastructures across the region, the head of the Donetsk region military administration, Pavlo Kyrylenko said.

“Two people died in the Chasiv Yar community. One person was wounded in Toretsk, four buildings were damaged as well as an infrastructure facility,” Kyrylenko said on Telegram.

Kyrylenko added that Vuhledar was also targeted by a dozen of artillery shelling, while two buildings were damaged in Bohoyavlenka.    

The village of Poltavka was also struck by a Russian rocket attack, damaging a utility space and several buildings.   

Last week, Russia's Defense Ministry said two senior Russian military officers had been killed in the region.

To the north of Donetsk, Ukrainian counterattacks in Bakhmut are reducing Russia's offensive potential and gaining time for planned attacks, according to Ukraine's Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar.

Russian troops in occupied Mariupol, a city in Ukraine's southeast, are receiving “backup” to strengthen their defense and help relocate military equipment after explosions at a Russian base on Friday,  according to an adviser to the elected mayor of Mariupol.

“Starting 8am there’s active relocation of helicopters from Berdiansk direction towards Mariupol along the coastline,” Petro Andriushchenko said Saturday. 

According to footage posted on social media and residents' accounts, there had been at least two explosions in the Russian-occupied city Friday evening. On the day, Andriushchenko said on Telegram that the base attacked housed around 150 troops and was primarily used for air defense support.

According to Andriushchenko, Russia activated their air defense system on Saturday morning and launched multiple rockets and the Shaheds (Iranian-made attack drones] from Yeisk and Primorsko-Akhtarsk over the coastline villages towards Zaporizhzhia.

This week marks one year since the strategic port city of Mariupol fell to Russian control.

The G7 leaders have agreed to "support Ukraine for as long as it takes in the face of Russia’s illegal war of aggression," according to a joint statement Saturday.

"We commit to intensifying our diplomatic, financial, humanitarian, and military support for Ukraine, to increasing the costs to Russia and those supporting its war efforts," the group said, while affirming "unwavering support for Ukraine for as long as it takes to bring a comprehensive, just, and lasting peace."

The leaders also called on China to press Russia to "immediately, completely and unconditionally withdraw its troops from Ukraine," and stop its military aggression.

"We encourage China to support a comprehensive, just and lasting peace based on territorial integrity and the principles and purposes of the UN Charter, including through its direct dialogue with Ukraine," the communiqué said.

Some context: China has sought to portray itself as a peacemaker in the conflict, but is yet to call on Russia to withdraw its troops from Ukrainian territory.

While Western leaders have hoped Chinese leader Xi Jinping might use his close rapport with Putin to end the war, analysts say that outcome is unlikely at this stage, given Beijing’s interests in maintaining its relationship with Russia.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky started his appointments at the Hiroshima G7 summit Saturday with a bilateral meeting with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.

His diplomatic sprint continued with a one-on-one meeting with UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.

Zelensky remained in the room following his conversation with Meloni, with Sunak entering later and greeting Ukraine's premier with a hug.

Leaders of the G7 nations have decided a plan to counter risks such as Russia’s “weaponization of energy," according to a joint statement Saturday. 

G7 members are meeting in Hiroshima, Japan, where Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is a surprise attendee.

“We will work together to ensure that attempts to weaponize economic dependencies by forcing G7 members and our partners, including small economies, to comply and conform will fail and face the consequences,” the statement said. 

“Drawing lessons from recent incidents of weaponizing energy and other economic dependencies, we stand firmly against such behavior,” it added. 

What this all means: Russia has long been accused of "weaponizing" energy, manipulating prices and supply as a means to gain political leverage.

Europe in particular has sought to wean itself off Russian energy since the Ukraine war began.