War in Ukraine: Crimea targeted, at least 11 dead in Kharkiv, Usyk victory… update on the situation

At least 11 dead in the Kharkiv region on May 19, 2024. EPA – SERGEY KOZLOV

Every day, Midi Libre takes stock of the situation in Ukraine. This Sunday, May 19, 2024, discover the latest news around this conflict.

Ukraine targeted Crimea with US missiles, Moscow says

Russian officials said Sunday that Ukraine fired nine U.S. ATACMS missiles into Crimea and attacked Russian regions with at least 60 drones in a major offensive that forced an oil refinery to shut down its activities.

Russian air defenses shot down nine US ATACMS missiles over Crimea, as well as 57 drones over Russia's Krasnodar region and three drones over the Belgorod region, a declared the Russian Ministry of Defense.

Local officials said six drones crashed at the site of an oil refinery in Slavyansk, Krasnodar region, southern Russia. The Interfax news agency said the refinery had halted operations following the attack. The Slavyansk Refinery is a private plant with a capacity of 4 million tonnes of oil per year, or approximately 1 million barrels per day. kyiv did not immediately comment. Russia has reported an increase in Ukrainian attacks on its territory since the opening of a new front in the Kharkiv region of northeastern Ukraine earlier this month .

President Vladimir Putin said Russia was creating a buffer zone in the region to protect itself from these attacks, which Moscow says risk triggering a wider war between Russia and the West if Ukraine uses Western weapons.

Russian forces captured the village of Starytsia in Ukraine's Kharkiv region and defeated Ukrainian units along the front, including in the Sumy region, Russia said on Saturday.< /p>

Russian strikes on Kharkiv leave at least 11 dead

Russian strikes killed at least 11 people, including a pregnant woman, and injured 25 others in two separate attacks in the Kharkiv region of northeastern Ukraine on Sunday, local officials said.

The city of Kharkiv and the region of the same name have been constantly targeted for several weeks by Russian missiles and guided bombs as part of an offensive launched by Moscow in the northeast of Ukraine. A first strike on Sunday killed five and injured 16 in a recreation area just outside Kharkiv, while five more people were killed and nine injured later in the day in two villages in the district. from Kupiansk.

Local governor Oleh Syniehubov said Russian forces hit two villages in the district with a rocket launcher. In Kharkiv, the results were announced by the city's mayor, Ihor Terekhov. "The explosions heard in Kharkiv around midday occurred in a nearby suburb. Two Russian missiles hit a leisure center where people were relaxing, killing five people and injuring sixteen others", he said on the messaging app Telegram.

Reuters correspondents at the scene of the attack saw a recreational area destroyed after what rescuers on the scene described as a powerful explosion, followed by a second strike, around 15 or 20 people. minutes later. The body of a man lay beneath the rubble of what, just over an hour before, had been a busy lakeside restaurant on a sunny day.

Valentyna, a 69-year-old woman who lives across the street from the scene, was home at the time of the explosion. In tears and with a bloodied face, she declared that her husband had been killed in the attack. "There have never been any soldiers here (. ..), it was a Sunday, people were supposed to be here to rest, children were supposed to be here, pregnant women (to) enjoy a normal lifestyle. , said Yaroslav Trofimko, a police inspector with the local police department.

Arriving on the scene after the first explosion, he was present when the second strike hit the same location, approximately 20 minutes later. Ukraine regularly accuses Russia of using "double-effect" strikes to kill or injure rescue workers.

After Sunday's attacks, President Volodymyr Zelensky again called on Western allies to provide Kiev with additional air defense systems to protect Kharkiv and other cities. "The world can put an end to Russian terror, but to do so, it is necessary to overcome the lack of political will of the leaders", he said -he declares. "Two Patriots for Kharkiv will make a fundamental difference", he added, referring to the missile defense systems of the same name.

Systems for other cities and sufficient support for soldiers on the front line would guarantee Russia's defeat, Volodymyr Zelensky added.

Ukrainian fire on the Russian region of Belgorod leaves several injured

Bombing by the Ukrainian army on the Russian region of Belgorod injured 13 people on Sunday, said the region's governor, Vyacheslav Gladkov.

Eleven people including three children were injured by multiple rocket launcher fire on the town of Chebekino and two people were injured in a nearby village, he said on Telegram messaging .

For kyiv, Usyk demonstrated that Ukraine could win

"A very important victory" for Ukraine at war: from President Zelensky to the soldiers on the front, including artists, Ukraine enthusiastically greeted its boxer Oleksandr Usyk, who became the undisputed heavyweight champion on Sunday.

The 37-year-old boxer, who briefly served as a soldier in the Ukrainian army after the Russian invasion in February 2022, spoke of a "great moment" both "for me, for my family, for my country& ;quot; after his points victory against Briton Tyson Fury on Sunday in Riyadh. "The Ukrainians hit hard! And in the end, all our adversaries will be defeated", Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky quickly reacted on Telegram.

The success of the unified champion of the four heavyweight belts shows that "Ukrainian endurance and strength give birth to victory Ukrainian", added the head of state of the country at war. Kiev Mayor Vitali Klitschko, a former world heavyweight champion boxer, also said that Usyk had shown the world that Ukrainians are capable of defeating a strong opponent", a "very important victory for Ukraine today" .

His brother Wladimir Klitschko, also a former world heavyweight champion and who attended the fight, hailed a "historic victory" d'Usyk for whom "losing was not an option". "I am very proud of Oleksandr Usyk and very proud to be Ukrainian."

From the side of the armed forces, the commander of the Ukrainian Air Force Mykola Oleshchuk estimated that "Ukraine is showing once again that it is a strong nation capable of fighting for its identity, its language, its culture and its traditions". A combat unit posted an enthusiastic message: "Glory to Ukraine! Glory to those who defend it and to those who glorify it t!".

For TV host and actor Sergiy Prytula, Usyk "won today. And with him, Ukraine won. And when Ukraine wins, he and all of us will win with it! Congratulations to the absolute champion! "Thank you! We are proud", soberly commented singer Jamala, winner of the 2016 Eurovision contest.

By adding the WBC title of his opponent of the day to his WBA, WBO and IBF trophies, Oleksandr Usyk is the first undisputed champion in the category since Lennox Lewis, who reached the Grail in 1999 in Las Vegas following his victory against Evander Holyfield.

Not very fair play in defeat, Tyson Fury, 35, described a "fantastic fight with Oleksandr", believing however that he deserved to win instead of Usyk, and that the decision could have been influenced by the geopolitical context and the war in Ukraine.