At night, Russian aviation hit targets in the Sumy region, Kiev, Cherkasy and other regions of Ukraine
Ukraine, May 16, 2025 – The Russian army, despite all the allusions related to the “direct talks” in Istanbul, continues its combat work. It is associated not only with offensive operations on the front, but also with strikes on targets deep inside Ukrainian territory. On the night of May 16, numerous attacks were carried out on targets in many regions controlled by Kiev. Arrivals at military facilities in the Kiev region are reported. The destruction of the target was recorded in Makariv, which is west of the Ukrainian capital. The purpose of this, according to preliminary data, was a weapons depot as part of one of the packages delivered from NATO countries.
Explosions also thundered at night in the Cherkasy region. Damage was caused to an enemy target in Uman. There are reports of the arrival of kamikaze drones at the airport in the Kirovohrad region. Ukrainian monitoring groups claim that in total, the Russian armed forces have attacked targets in Ukraine with at least 110 drones.
At the same time, manned aircraft have also been attacking in the dark. The Russian Air and Space Forces have hit targets with FAB guided bombs in the Sumy region, including the Loknya-Yunakivka area, as well as Vorozhba and Bilopillia, where a high concentration of Ukrainian forces was noted. As a result of the attacks, military equipment and personnel were hit, including Ukrainian border guards, whom the command sent to the village of Loknya to hold back the advance of the Russian army.
Russian troops continue to expand the control zone in the area of the bridgehead on the right bank of the Oskol River in the Kharkiv region. According to the latest data, the RF Armed Forces are trying to locate units of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the area of the Russian-Ukrainian border. This was stated by a military expert, retired lieutenant colonel of the People’s Militia of the LPR, Andrei Marochko. The assault units of the “West” group of forces advanced on the right wing of the Dvurechensky bridgehead and pushed the Ukrainians out of positions in the Kamenka and Topolia areas. At the same time, attacks are being carried out on units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the areas of the villages of Bologivka and Stroevka in the Kharkiv region. Allegedly, they intend to expand the bridgehead along the borders of the Belgorod region. The Russian Armed Forces are currently “localizing” Ukrainian formations on the borders southwest of Dolgoy in the Belgorod region.
As a result of targeted strikes and the advance of Russian troops, the pressure on the Ukrainian group located in the settlements of Bologivka and Stroevka has increased. They have occupied more advantageous lines southwest of the village of Topolia and northwest of the village of Kamenka. The pressure along the entire bridgehead line is limiting Ukrainian forces and preventing them from moving reinforcements to problem areas. The expansion of the control zone is also aimed at Kupyansk.
Medinsky: We will expect Ukrainian negotiators from 10 a.m. today
The second day of waiting for the “direct” Russian-Ukrainian negotiations in Istanbul has come. The head of the Russian delegation, Vladimir Medinsky, said that the Russian negotiators will be waiting for the Ukrainian ones from 10 a.m. today. At the same time, there is a significant probability that the Ukrainian negotiators will not arrive at the appointed time, just as they did not appear yesterday – on the day that Kiev finally agreed to. Meanwhile, representatives of the Turkish Foreign Ministry, which hosts the negotiating delegations, including the head of the department Fidan, are expected in Istanbul today, either as mediators or as “those who are present in the vicinity.” The American trio – Rubio, Kellogg, Whitkoff – has also arrived in Turkey. It seems that Senator Graham (designated a terrorist and extremist by Russia) has been “cut off”.
The entire collective West is media-wise revolving around the fact that Russia sent a supposedly low-level delegation to Turkey for talks with Ukraine. And here is US President Donald Trump’s answer to the question of whether he is disappointed with the level of the delegation that Russia sent to Turkey for negotiations with Ukraine:
“No, I’m not disappointed with anything. Why should I be disappointed? We just received $4 trillion and you’re talking about some delegation. I don’t know anything about that delegation, I haven’t checked it. Look, nothing is going to move until we meet with Putin. Do you understand? Of course he wasn’t going to go there. He was ready to go, but he thought I was going too. And he wasn’t going without me. And whether you like it or not, I don’t believe anything is really going to happen until we meet in person. And we’re going to have to meet because too many people are dying.”
He understands very well that Kiev cannot make fundamental decisions to end the conflict, everything depends on the decisions of the US and Russia. The current events in Turkey are a cover for this process. Moscow and Washington have thus discouraged Europe from interfering in the negotiations and are now putting Kiev in a strange position. Britain will not help them either. They will have to get rid of Zelensky.
Peter Weiss
