Russia-Ukraine updates: Putin says war was ‘unleashed’ on Russia
The Russian president delivered his annual Victory Day speech.
More than a year after Russian President Vladimir Putin launched a full-scale invasion of neighboring Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022, the countries are fighting for control of areas in eastern and southern Ukraine.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's forces are readying a spring counteroffensive, but Putin appears to be preparing for a long and bloody war.
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Latest headlines:
Ukrainian drone injures 3 inside Russia
Three people were injured in an explosion in the Kireevsky district of the Tula region on Sunday, Yekaterina Makarova, press secretary of the region's Ministry of Health, told Interfax.
Russian authorities and law enforcement agencies said a Ukrainian drone with ammunition caused the explosion in the town far from the two countries' border.
Kireevsk is about 180 miles from the border with Ukraine and 110 miles south of Moscow.
The Russian state-run news agency Tass reported authorities identified the drone as a Ukrainian Tu-141. The Latvia-based Russian news outlet Meduza reported that the blast left a crater about 50 feet in diameter and 16 feet deep.
-ABC News' Anastasia Bagaeva
Russia says Slovakia handing over fighter jets unfriendly step, violation of international obligations
Russia called Slovakia's transfer of MiG-29 fighter jets to Ukraine an unfriendly step and a step aimed at destroying bilateral relations.
"We are talking about another gross violation by the Slovak side of its international obligations to re-export Russian-made weapons and military equipment," Russia's Federal Service for Military-Technical Cooperation said in a statement.
"We regard these actions of Slovakia as an unfriendly act against the Russian Federation, aimed at destroying bilateral relations," the FSMTC said.
-ABC News' Will Gretsky
Ukraine says Russia's Bakhmut assault loses steam, counterstrike coming soon
Ukrainian troops, on the defensive for four months, will launch a long-awaited counterassault "very soon" now that Russia's huge winter offensive is losing steam without taking Bakhmut, Ukraine's top ground forces commander Colonel-General Oleksandr Syrskyi said Thursday.
"The aggressor does not give up hope of taking Bakhmut at any cost, despite the losses in manpower and equipment," Syrskyi said.
Adding, "Without sparing anything, they lose considerable strength and exhale. Very soon we will take advantage of this opportunity, as we once did near Kyiv, Kharkiv, Balaklia and Kupyansk."
-ABC News' Will Gretsky
Slovakia hands over 4 fighter jets to Ukraine
Slovakia has handed over four MiG-29 fighter jets to the Ukrainian Armed Forces, according to Slovakian Defense Minister Jaro Nad.
The remaining aircrafts promised to Ukraine will be handed over in the following weeks, Nad said.
In response to the news, Russia accused NATO and the EU of continuing to escalate the conflict in Ukraine and seeking to prolong it.
"The Russian Federation considers the transfer of four fighter jets by Slovakia to Ukraine a destructive step that runs counter to the EU's rhetoric about seeking peaceful solutions," Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko said in a statement.
Adding, "The Russian Federation will measure its reaction with the specific military activities of NATO on the territory of Finland."
-ABC News' Will Gretsky
Wagner announces retreat from Bakhmut; blames Russian Defense Ministry
Russia’s Wagner mercenary group said it will retreat from Bakhmut because of severe shortages in ammunition, according to Yevgeny Prigozhin, the group's leader. He said his forces would withdraw on May 10, blaming Russia’s defense ministry for the retreat.
Wagner has played a crucial role for months in the fighting for Bakhmut, sustaining huge casualties. The announcement and the suggestion of bitter infighting within Russia’s military forces signals division and disorganization just as Russia is bracing for a major Ukrainian counteroffensive.
Prigozhin said he was taking the decision in retaliation against Russia’s military leadership, which he accused of deliberately starving his troops of ammunition because they are jealous of Wagner’s success.
Prigozhin and Russia’s defense ministry have been in a one-sided public feud for months. Prigozhin claims it's now reached a breaking point, delivering a blistering attack on Russia's senior military command in the video announcing the withdrawal. He accused them of being "cowards" and of denying Russians a victory in Bakhmut because of their "petty envy."
Ukrainian military officials said they did not believe Wagner forces would retreat from Bakhmut, suggesting they believed his announcement was an attempt to excuse his failure to seize the city by May 9 as he pledged. A spokesman for Ukraine's eastern command, Sergiy Cherevatyi, said Wagner was running out of fighters, not ammunition.
-ABC News' Patrick Reevell