War in Ukraine: Ivan Popov arrested for “fraud”, Zelensky welcomes “tangible results” in Kharkiv… update on the situation

Ukrainian rescuers and police officers work at the site of a rocket attack on a recreation center on the bank of a reservoir in Kharkiv region, Ukraine, May 19, 2024, amid the Russian invasion . EPA – SERGEY KOZLOV

Every day, Midi Libre takes stock of the situation in Ukraine. This Tuesday, May 21, 2024, discover the latest news around this conflict.

Hesitation over aid to Ukraine threatens Western security, according to Berlin

The head of German diplomacy Annalena Baerbock estimated Tuesday, during a visit to kyiv, that the hesitations on the military aid to be provided to Ukraine in the face of Russia "threaten" the security of the West.

"Every hesitation and delay in supporting Ukraine costs innocent lives. And every hesitation to support Ukraine also jeopardizes our own security", Ms. Baerbock said during a press conference with her counterpart Dmytro Kouleba.

kyiv calls on its Western allies to shoot down Russian missiles

Ukraine proposed Tuesday that its allies shoot down Russian missiles targeting it from their territory, if "all necessary means& quot;to do so were not provided to the Ukrainian forces, which lack air defense systems.

The proposal came from the head of Ukrainian diplomacy, Dmytro Kouleba, during a press conference in Kiev with her German counterpart Annalena Baerbock, who estimated that the hesitations on Military aid to Ukraine threatens Western security. "There is no legal, security or moral argument that would prevent our partners from shooting down Russian missiles over the territory of Ukraine from of their territory", said Dmytro Kouleba.

Zelensky welcomes "tangible results" in the Kharkiv region

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Tuesday that kyiv's army was achieving “tangible results” in the Kharkiv region (north-east), where the Russian army leads an offensive since May 10.

"In the Kharkiv region, our forces destroy the occupier, the results are tangible", a -he said during his evening speech, while specifying that the situation remained "extremely difficult" in the Pokrovsk, Kramatorsk and Kurakhove sectors in the Donetsk region (east) where, according to him, "the majority of fighting is currently taking place&quot ;.

A Russian general, dismissed after criticizing operations in Ukraine, arrested for "fraud"

Russian General Ivan Popov, former commander of the 58th Army fighting in Ukraine who was dismissed last summer after, according to him, alerting of difficulties on the front, was arrested for  & ;quot;fraud", Russian news agencies reported on Tuesday.

This officer "was taken into custody on May 17 on suspicion of 'large-scale fraud'& quot;, a Moscow military court told the state agency TASS, specifying that he will be placed in pre-trial detention for at least two months. According to the corresponding article of the penal code, he faces up to ten years in prison.