The day before, the Air Force and air defense hit 15 Russian targets: 11 drones and four cruise missiles. The Russian military fired missiles across the Dnieper, one woman was wounded in the shelling. The occupiers fired at Sievierodonetsk 15 times in a day, and 12 high-rise buildings were destroyed. At night, Russians shelled a village in Sumy oblast with Grad multiple rocket launchers from the Russian settlement of Ponuri.
The Ukrainian military liberated Dementiyivka in Kharkiv oblast. In general, in the Kharkiv direction, the main efforts of the Russians are now focused on maintaining their positions, but they are also trying to counterattack to restore the lost. The Russian army is advancing in the direction of the village of Ternova, and the fighting continues.
The leader of the Donetsk Peopleʼs Republic, Pushylin, said he would demolish the Azovstal plant and build a park in its place. In addition, the occupiers promise to restore the water supply in the city. But these attempts could lead to a real environmental catastrophe. The Mariupol City Council warned about it. Without full-fledged drainage and sewage treatment system, the cityʼs water supply system cannot function properly. There will be a mass unorganized outflow of sewage on the city streets, which will lead to the spread of infectious diseases among the population. According to preliminary estimates, the full restoration of the water supply in the city may take more than a year. The cost will reach at least $ 700 million.
In Mariupol, a concentrated solution of hydrogen sulfide could enter the Sea of Azov due to the bombing of the Azovstal plant. Leakage of this liquid will completely destroy the flora and fauna of the Sea of Azov. Then dangerous substances can get into the Black and Mediterranean Seas.
The international human rights organization Human Rights Watch has collected facts about the executions and torture of Ukrainians during the Russian occupation in Kyiv and Chernihiv oblasts. These are crimes committed in 17 villages and small towns of Kyiv and Chernihiv oblasts. As of May 18, the bodies of 1,288 civilians killed by the Russian military during the occupation of the region had been found in Kyiv oblast.
The United States has no plans to extend a special permit for Russia to service its foreign debt in dollars. This permit expires on May 25. Completion of this special permit will not allow Russia to pay its debts, as international banks will not accept payments due to sanctions. This will lead to the actual default of Russia.
Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, and Poland are asking NATO to increase its military presence on its territory and deploy 20,000 troops each, as Russia can quickly group forces against NATOʼs eastern border and face the Alliance with a short war. At the same time, some countries, including France and Italy, are still skeptical.
The European Union intends to lead efforts to rebuild post-war Ukraine. The European Commission has introduced a new mechanism called Rebuild Ukraine. In addition, the President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen announced her intention to provide Ukraine with new macro-financial assistance of up to € 9 billion in 2022. According to her, these funds will be allocated in the short term for "existing needs to support the government and the state budget".