26 May events in Babelʼs review: the occupiers again fired heavily on Kharkiv, and the EU froze € 23 billion in assets of Russiaʼs central bank

Author:
Dmytro Rayevskyi
Date:

From the very beginning of Russiaʼs full-scale war against Ukraine, Babel has been conducting daily live text coverage and promptly informing the main news on the Telegram channel. We also make a daily digest of the most important events of the day in case you have not been able to follow live.

At night, air defense forces shot down a Russian missile in Khmelnytsky oblast — the wreckage fell in the field, no casualties or damage. During the day, the defense forces of southern Ukraine killed 20 Russian servicemen, two self-propelled artillery, and one Russian anti-aircraft gun, as well as enemy vehicles. The Ukrainian military destroyed a Russian checkpoint on the Lysychansk-Bakhmut highway. This road is constantly under fire, as it is the only one connecting Luhansk region with the rest of the country.

The shelling of the occupiers in Lysychansk and the suburbs killed three people and shelled a humanitarian aid center. Sievierodonetsk was also shelled. In particular, 19 high-rise buildings and the building of the Impulse enterprise, the House of Culture and the Administrative center were destroyed. Russian troops fire on Kharkiv again. City residents are asked to be in shelters. It is already known that at least 17 people were injured and 7 were killed.

The United States rejects Russiaʼs proposals to lift sanctions in exchange for blocking access to Ukrainian ports. US State Department spokesman Ned Price called Russiaʼs proposal to unblock ports "empty promises" and that Russiaʼs desire to use food and energy as weapons was appalling. Price also rejected Russiaʼs allegations that sanctions against it had led to a food crisis, saying Russia was misinforming.

The European Union has frozen about € 23 billion ($ 24.5 billion) in assets of Russiaʼs central bank. At the same time, the United States froze $ 100 billion.

The European Union does not recognize the legality of issuing Russian passports in the occupied territories of Kherson and Zaporizhia oblasts. The EU Ambassador to Ukraine believes that the Russian occupation forces had to abandon the idea of a "referendum" in Kherson oblast due to lack of any support.

Mediazone has compiled a map of shipments of property looted by the Russian military in Ukraine. The journalists found out that the looters sent a total of 58 tons of parcels. They were delivered by the Russian company SDEK. Most parcels were sent from the city of Valuyka, as well as from the Belarusian Mozyr. The "leaders" in obtaining the loot were Ugra (Kemerovo oblast), Kyzyl (Republic of Tuva), Novosibirsk and Ulan-Ude. The parcels include sneakers, tires, a microphone, a TV set, sausages and canned food, a guitar, a tent and much more.

The Donetsk Peopleʼs Republic militants said they would hold a "referendum" on joining Russia, but only after reaching the "constitutional" borders of Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts.

The self-proclaimed president of Belarus, Alexandr Lukashenko, has ordered the creation of a southern operational command of the armed forces near the Ukrainian border.

In Latvia, they passed a bill to dismantle Soviet monuments. The law will not apply to monuments, memorials, memorial plaques, which are located in the burial places of soldiers who died in the war. The most valuable of the dismantled will be transferred to the funds of the Museum of the Occupation of Latvia.