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Ukraine Invasion
Defense Policy / Programs
Foreign Policy
News Reports

Ukraine Invasion

• The total combat losses of the enemy from 24.02.2022 to 12.05.2023 Ukraine MOD 12 May 2023
• Russia Acknowledges Retreat North Of Bakhmut After Major Advance Of Ukrainian Troops RFE/RL 12 May 2023 -- The Russian Defense Ministry has acknowledged its forces retreated from positions north of the city of Bakhmut in Ukraine's eastern Donetsk region that for months has been the scene of heavy fighting.
• 'Panicking For Real': In Anticipation Of A Counteroffensive, Russia Moves Thousands Of People From Their Homes In Southern Ukraine RFE/RL 12 May 2023 -- "In the beginning, numerous children were taken away, and the parents who sent their kids to schools and kindergartens were receiving threats," a resident of Polohy, a Russian-occupied city in Ukraine's southern Zaporizhzhya region, told RFE/RL on condition of anonymity.
• Latest in Ukraine: Wagner Group Chief Slams Russian Military, Says It Fled Bakhmut VOA 12 May 2023 -- The founder of the Wagner Group paramilitary forces on Friday sharply criticized the Russian military, saying Russian troops abandoned the flank in and around the eastern city of Bakhmut, allowing Ukrainian troops to gain ground on all sides of the disputed city.
• Press release on Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Vershinin's participation in a high-level four-party meeting (Russia, Türkiye, Ukraine plus the UN) in Istanbul Russia Ministry of Foreign Affairs 12 May 2023
• Foreign Ministry statement on the UK's decision to transfer the Storm Shadow missile system to Ukraine Russia Ministry of Foreign Affairs 12 May 2023
• Russian Defense Ministry Denies Reports About Ukrainian Counteroffensive Sputnik 12 May 2023 -- The statements made by military correspondents claiming that Ukrainian troops broke through Russian defense lines in the special military operation zone are not true, the Russian Defense Ministry said on Thursday.

Defense Policy / Programs

• Baltic Fleet's surface action group trains to launch a missile strike Russia MoD 12 May 2023 -- The Baltic Fleet's missile ships carried out electronic missile launches against sea and shore targets as part of a routine exercise at sea ranges.
• Medvedev: Russia Using All Tools to Punish Those Responsible for Nord Stream Explosions Sputnik 12 May 2023 -- Russia will continue using any available legal mechanisms to bring to justice those responsible for the Nord Stream explosions, although obtaining justice from international judicial bodies is unlikely, Russian Security Council Deputy Chairman Dmitry Medvedev said on Friday.
• Medvedev: WW3 Will Have No Winners Sputnik 12 May 2023 -- The planet is close to the World War Three but it will have no winners if unleashed, Deputy Chairman of the Russian Security Council Dmitry Medvedev said on Friday.
• South Africa Denies Approving Arms Sale To Russia After U.S. Ambassador's Allegation RFE/RL 12 May 2023 -- The South African government did not approve any weapons shipments to Russia late last year, the country's communications minister said on May 12, one day after the U.S. ambassador to South Africa said he was confident that a Russian ship had picked up weapons at a South African port in December.

Foreign Policy

• Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov's video address to the participants in the session of the 11th St Petersburg International Legal Forum 'Foundations of the international legal order vs the "rules-based order": The future of international law,' Moscow, May 12, 2023 Russia Ministry of Foreign Affairs 12 May 2023
• Telephone conversation with President of South Africa Cyril Ramaphosa President of Russia 12 May 2023 -- Vladimir Putin had a telephone conversation with President of the Republic of South Africa Cyril Ramaphosa at the South African side's initiative.
• South Africa Summons US Ambassador Over Russia Weapons Row VOA 12 May 2023 -- A war of words is brewing between the U.S. and South Africa after the U.S. ambassador to the country said he would "bet his life" on U.S. intelligence that South African weapons were loaded onto a Russian vessel when it docked at a Cape Town naval base in December. The South African government hit back, saying that while it would investigate the matter, the U.S. ambassador's remarks had "undermined" the relationship between the two nations.
• Press release on Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov's telephone conversation with Foreign Minister of Saudi Arabia Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud Russia Ministry of Foreign Affairs 12 May 2023
• Saudi Minister of Foreign Affairs Receives Phone Call from Russian Counterpart SPA 12 May 2023 -- Prince Faisal bin Farhan bin Abdullah, the Saudi Minister of Foreign Affairs, received today a telephone call from the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation, Sergey Lavrov.

News Reports

• The Week In Russia: Theater Of War RFE/RL 12 May 2023 -- There's Red Square, and there's reality. Russian President Putin Vladimir Putin rehearsed grievances and repeated falsehoods at a Victory Day military parade as the war ground on in Ukraine. Farther from the Kremlin, the clampdown continued.
• Common Currency on Agenda for South African BRICS Summit VOA 12 May 2023 -- The creation of a BRICS currency will be one of the main topics up for discussion when the group of five emerging nations - Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa -- meet in Johannesburg in August, South African officials said this week.