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What happened in the past hours

On day 450 of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, here’s the 8:00 PM headline news. This Friday, May 19:

The United States gives the green light to train Ukrainian pilots to use the F-16 fighters. The White House said in a statement that US President Joe Biden indicated to the G7 leaders that he supports a joint initiative by European countries to train Ukrainian pilots on next-generation combat aircraft, including the F-16. “As training begins over the next few months, the coalition of countries will decide when, which countries will provide Ukraine with these aircraft, and when.”

Zelensky welcomes the US decision on the F-16 fighter jets and hopes to discuss it with the G7 leaders in Japan. The Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelensky, celebrated through his Twitter account the decision of the United States to support the training of Ukrainian pilots to use Western-made fighters, including the American F-16s. Zelensky sees this as the first step to “strengthening our army in the sky,” although it remains to be decided who, when and how the fighters will be delivered.

Russia bans another 500 Americans from entering the country, including Obama. Russia did not even want to wait for a response from the new G7 sanctions list by banning 500 Americans from entering the country, including former President Barack Obama. “The list includes senators, deputies, experts and employees of think tanks that spread lies and anti-Russian institutions, as well as heads of companies of the military-industrial complex that supplies weapons to the Kiev regime,” the State Department said in a statement.

Ukraine claims that Russia has reinforced Bakhmut with ‘thousands of soldiers’. Ukraine’s deputy defense minister, Hanna Malyar, noted on Friday that “very intense battles” were still taking place on the Bakhmut front. He said on his Telegram account, “The enemy cannot win with quality, so he bet on quantity. He has increased the presence of his forces in Bakhmut by several thousand soldiers and is trying to exploit this advantage with heavy artillery and ammunition.” “They are burning buildings to ashes,” Malliar said. “Only the foundations remain, which are indefensible.”

Three civilians were killed in a Russian attack on the border province of Sumy. Three employees of the power grid management company in northern Ukraine’s Sumy province were killed on Friday in a Russian attack, Ukrinform news agency reported, citing the Ukrainian prosecutor’s office. According to the prosecution, the officials were in their car passing through a field near the town of Yunakiev when they were attacked with light weapons. “The driver and two electricians died,” the statement said.

Russia puts the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court on the wanted list. Russia responded again, on Friday, to the arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court against its President Vladimir Putin, and the delegate for the defense of children, Maria Lvova Belova, who are accused of stealing Ukrainian children and deporting them to Russian territory. , a war crime. The Russian Ministry of Interior has included the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, Karim Ahmed Khan, on the wanted list.

Zelensky asks the Arab League countries in Jeddah not to turn a blind eye to the Russian invasion. On Friday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky asked Arab League countries to support his peace initiative to end Russia’s war in Ukraine. Zelensky, who is making his first trip to Saudi Arabia, announced in a speech that the delegates would receive the text of the ten-point peace plan and asked them to work with Ukraine directly without intermediaries. The Ukrainian leader emphasized that “some” Arab countries are “looking the other way” in the face of the Russian invasion. During his speech at the opening of the summit held in the Saudi city of Jeddah, Zelensky denounced, “Unfortunately, some countries around the world, and here among you, are looking the other way in the face of these illegal annexations.”

Russia declares Greenpeace an undesirable organization. Greenpeace has been in Russia for a long time, and finally broke off. The prosecution declared the reputable NGO an undesirable organization, the equivalent of deeming it an extremist group and grounds for imprisonment for cooperating with it.