Today was a busy day for developments related to the war in Ukraine, with Russian President Vladimir Putin receiving an arrest warrant from the International Criminal Court, more details released about the upcoming meeting between the Russian leader and the Chinese leader, and an announcement More Ukrainian fighter jets.
As the night approaches in Kiev, find out what’s happened so far:
ICC issues arrest warrant for Putin: The International Criminal Court has issued arrest warrants for Putin and Maria Livova-Belova, a Russian official at the heart of an alleged scheme to forcibly deport thousands of Ukrainian children to Russia.
Moscow said the court was “meaningless” for the country, as Ukrainian officials praised the announcement. Andriy Yermak, chief of staff to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, said the arrest warrant was “just the beginning”.
Turkey, Finland and NATO: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that Turkey has decided to start the process of ratifying Finland’s accession to NATO. Both Finland and Sweden announced their intention to join NATO in May, abandoning decades of neutrality following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
While Finnish President Sauli Niinistö welcomed Turkey’s decision, he said Turkey’s membership was “incomplete” without Sweden.
Putin meets Xi Jinping: Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping plan to discuss the war in Ukraine and will sign documents proving closer ties when they meet in Moscow next week, a Putin adviser told Russian state media.
U.S. officials said they would be watching the meeting closely as China considered sending arms to Russia. U.S. officials also said they were working to get Xi to speak to Zelensky on the phone, arguing that hearing him directly was important for understanding perspectives.
More fighters from Kiev: Slovakia announced it would send 13 MiG-29 fighter jets to Ukraine, making it the second NATO member to commit the aircraft after Poland said on Thursday it would transfer four of the jets to Ukraine in the coming days
The case of Bachmut: A Ukrainian soldier said Russian troops were “partially exhausted” in parts of the eastern city of Bakhmut, but the fighting intensity remained “very high”.
According to the MoD, while Russian and Wagner forces have gained a foothold west of the Bahmutka River in the city centre, “more broadly, on the front lines, Russia has been engaged in a number of attacks since at least January.
At the same time, Yevgeny Prigorzhin, head of the Wagner company, once again complained about the insufficient supply of ammunition in Russia.
Here is the latest control chart:
