🔴 Live: Zelensky in Rome as Germany announces new €2.7 billion weapons package for Ukraine

Issued on: 13/05/2023 – 11:12Modified: 13/05/2023 – 13:59

2:25pm: Moscow says Kyiv using UK missiles to hit ‘civilian targets’

Moscow said Saturday that Kyiv used British long-range missiles to target civilian sites in the eastern city of Lugansk, wounding six children.

The defence ministry said that on Friday evening Ukraine’s armed forces had struck two civilian enterprises.

“Storm Shadow air-to-air missiles supplied to the Kyiv regime by Great Britain were used for the strike, despite London’s declarations that these weapons would not be used against civilian targets”, the ministry said in a statement.

“Nearby residential buildings were damaged. Civilians were injured, including six children,” the statement added.

1:52pm: EU must speed up ammunition supplies to Ukraine, foreign policy chief says

The European Union must speed up the supply of ammunition to Ukraine as the country’s forces need 1,000 artillery shells every day in the Bakhmut area alone, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said on Saturday.

Borrell said Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba had told his EU counterparts at a meeting in Stockholm that Kyiv needed more support to defend itself against Russia’s invasion. Around the eastern battlefield city of Bakhmut, “Ukraine needs about 1,000 shells of artillery per day,” Borrell told reporters after the meeting. 

Borrell said member countries needed to dig into their own stockpiles and overcome logistical challenges to speed up supply.

1:32pm: Poland detects object in airspace from Belarus, says likely observation balloon

Poland’s defense ministry said on Saturday that it has detected an object in Polish airspace that came from the direction of Belarus, adding that the object was probably an observation balloon.

NATO-member Poland is on alert for infractions of its airspace as war rages in neighbouring Ukraine after incidents in November and December in which missiles landed on its territory.

Captain Ewa Zlotnicka, press officer of the Armed Forces Operational Command, told broadcaster TVN 24 the object entered Polish airspace on Friday evening. The ministry said radar contact with it was lost near Rypin, a town in north-central Poland. A Territorial Defence Force spokesman said a search for it was under way.

12:32pm: Ukraine says ‘moving forward’ along parts of Bakhmut front

A senior Ukrainian military commander said Saturday that Kyiv’s forces were advancing along parts of the front line against Russian forces near the eastern town of Bakhmut.

“Our soldiers are moving forward in some areas of the front, and the enemy is losing equipment and manpower,” Commander of Ukrainian ground forces Oleksandr Syrskyi said on social media.

This comes as Britain’s defence ministry said, in its daily intelligence update on Saturday, that Russian forces have likely withdrawn from their positions on the southern flank of Bakhmut operations in bad order over the last four days.

10:11am: Germany announces €2.7 billion weapons package for Ukraine

Germany is preparing a new weapons package for Ukraine worth 2.7 billion euros ($2.97 billion), the defence ministry said Saturday. The weapons will include tanks, armoured vehicles and air-defence systems.

“We all hope for a rapid end to this terrible war by Russia against the Ukrainian people, but unfortunately this is not in sight,” Defence Minister Boris Pistorius said in a statement.

The package will include 30 additional Leopard-1 tanks, Marder armoured vehicles, air-defence systems and surveillance drones, the ministry said. 

Der Spiegel magazine reported that it would be Germany’s largest since the outbreak of the war.

Germany last year provided military support worth €2 billion and had earmarked sending aid worth €2.2 billion for this year.

9:50am: Zelensky to meet Pope Francis at the Vatican 

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is in Rome where he will meet with Pope Francis and Italian leaders on Saturday, the Vatican said. Zelensky will hold midday meetings with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, who staunchly backs military and other aid for Ukraine, and with President Sergio Mattarella.

Zelensky’s exact schedule wasn’t being publicly announced because of security concerns, and the Vatican only confirmed a papal meeting shortly before the Ukrainian president’s arrival in Rome. Italian state television reported that, as part of protective measures, a no-fly zone was ordered for Rome skies and police sharpshooters were strategically placed on high buildings.

• Key developments from Friday, May 12:

Moscow acknowledged on Friday that its forces had fallen back from areas of Ukraine’s battlefield city of Bakhmut after a new Ukrainian offensive, a retreat that the head of Russia’s Wagner mercenaries called a “rout”. The rare acknowledgement of a battlefield setback came after Ukraine said its forces had made significant advances around the embattled eastern city, which has been the epicentre of fighting with Russia for months. 

Russian-installed officials said on Friday missiles fired by Ukrainian forces had injured six children and a Russian parliamentarian and damaged two disused factories in eastern Luhansk region’s main city, about 100km (60 miles) behind the front lines.

The Ukrainian military said in a daily update that Russia was focusing its efforts near Lyman, Bakhmut, Avdiivka and Marinka. “The enemy carried out 36 attacks in these directions in the last 24 hours.”

South Africa’s foreign ministry said in a statement on Friday the US ambassador to South Africa, Reuben Brigety, had “admitted that he crossed a line” and “apologised unreservedly” after he said a Russian ship had picked up weapons in South Africa last year, causing a diplomatic uproar on Thursday. Following the US ambassador’s statements, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said he would appoint an independent inquiry to look into the allegations.   

Read yesterday’s live blog to see how the day’s events unfolded

(FRANCE 24 with AFP, AP and Reuters)