WAR IN UKRAINE: May 20, 2023
LATEST DEVELOPMENTS: Day 451
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky has arrived in Japan for the G7 summit where he's meeting world leaders. He was greeted with an embrace by UK PM Rishi Sunak, who welcomed him to Hiroshima saying: "You made it.” Shortly after his plane landed, Zelensky tweeted that "peace will be closer" as a result of meetings at the summit of rich allied nations. It comes after the US announced it would allow allies to give fighter jets to Ukraine, including F-16s, in a major boost Kyiv
In response, Russia warned that Western countries would be running "colossal risks" if they supplied Ukraine with F-16 jets. G7 leaders have released the summit's final communique, which touches on how the group wants to support Ukraine against the Russian invasion. The G7 comprises the US, UK, Canada, France, Germany, Italy and Japan - but eight other nations have been invited this year - BBC
Russian air strikes hit several locations in Ukraine overnight, including the capital, Kyiv, as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy arrived in Japan for a summit of the Group of Seven (G7) leading global economies - RFE/RL
Overnight, the Russian Federation launched 18 "Shahed" drones over the Kyiv region - all of them were shot down, the Ukrainian Armed Forces reported. Also, in the evening, two "Shahed" drones were destroyed in the eastern direction and another reconnaissance drone - in the southern direction - Suspilne
ABC News cites two Ukrainian commanders in the Donbas in past 24 hrs & seen footage confirming that a Ukrainian offensive near Bakhmut is still active & the Ukrainians are making more incremental gains