WAR IN UKRAINE: May 24, 2023
LATEST DEVELOPMENTS: Day 455
The US has distanced itself from an incursion into Russia - which Moscow says ended in the defeat of armed insurgents who entered from Ukraine. Parts of the border region of Belgorod came under attack on Monday, in one of the largest cross-border raids since Russia invaded its neighbour last year. Russia later released pictures of abandoned or damaged Western military vehicles, including US-made Humvees. The US insisted it did not "encourage or enable strikes inside of Russia". A state department spokesman acknowledged reports "circulating on social media and elsewhere" that US-supplied weapons had been used, but said his country was "sceptical at this time of the veracity of these reports” - BBC
Nine people were hospitalized after drone attacks overnight on Russia's southwestern Belgorod region, its governor said. The Ukraine-based Freedom for Russia Legion has said its goal is the "complete liberation of Russia" after claiming a surprise attack in Belgorod Tuesday - CNN
On the reported incursions in Belgorod: if these acts are duplicated again and elsewhere in Russia could represent a tipping point for Russian President Vladimir Putin. Could also represent a subtle but brilliant part of Ukraine counteroffensive strategy, I told CNN’s Erin Burnett Tuesday evening (video above)
Ukraine said it's still holding on to part of Bakhmut, despite claims by Russian officials that they had seized the eastern Ukrainian city. The acting head of the self-declared Donetsk People's Republic alleged its capture would lead to further Russian gains in Ukraine.
Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin is visiting China, where he has predicted bilateral trade will hit a record $200 billion this year, as Beijing throws Moscow an economic lifeline from the impact of Western sanctions.
The leader of Russia's Wagner private mercenary group,Yevgeny Prigozhin, says Moscow's plan to "demilitarize" Ukraine with its full-scale invasion has failed, instead turning its neighbor's army into one of the "most powerful in the world" and setting Russia up for a possible uprising. Meanwhile, Russian shelling of Ukraine's southern Kherson region has killed two civilians and wounded three, a regional official said on May 24, as the Ukrainian military said the battle for the eastern city of Bakhmut was still under way - RFE/RL