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Ukraine’s armed forces have said the main focus of Russian fighters is on Donetsk in eastern Ukraine.

In the latest operational update posted on Facebook, Ukraine said 16 Russian attacks were repulsed in the Donetsk and Luhansk directions last night with eight Russian tanks, 17 units of armored combat vehicles, four special armored vehicles and six conventional enemy vehicles destroyed.

They also said Russian forces were trying to regain lost positions around the major city of Kharkiv in northeastern Russia. Earlier in the week, Russian forces were driven back as far as the border.

Ukraine claimed that Russia was looking to involve university students in occupied Donetsk “in hostilities” in the absence of other resources that could be mobilized. The information was not able to be verified.

— Holly Ellyatt

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has wished his compatriots all the best for Vyshyvanka Day, a national day celebrating Ukraine’s folk traditions and culture with the national costume, the embroidered traditional dress called the “vyshyvanka.”

“I wish you health. Strong, unbreakable, brave and free. Happy Vyshyvanka Day, Ukraine!,” Zelenskyy said on his Telegram channel today, while sporting his own embroidered shirt.

The day, traditionally celebrated on the third Thursday of May every year, has more resonance this year as it takes place as Ukraine remains under attack from Russia.

— Holly Ellyatt

One of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s advisors has said that a cease-fire in Ukraine is impossible unless all Russian troops withdraw.

On Twitter Thursday, Mykhailo Podolyak said: “do not offer us a ceasefire – this is impossible without total Russian troops withdrawal.”

Ukraine is not interested in new “Minsk” accords and a renewal of the war in a few years, he said, referring to several failed agreements which aimed to end the conflict in the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine —between pro-Russian separatists and Ukrainian forces — that had been going on since 2014 before Russia’s wider invasion.

Until Russia “is ready to fully liberate occupied territories, our negotiating team is weapons, sanctions and money,” he said.

— Holly Ellyatt

Moscow over recent weeks has fired senior military commanders for failures in Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

The U.K. Ministry of Defence pointed to Lt. Gen. Serhiy Kisel, whose forces failed to capture Ukraine’s second-biggest city, Kharkiv. Also suspended was Vice Admiral Igor Osipov, who commanded the Black Sea Fleet until its flagship, the Moskva, was sunk in April.

Valeriy Gerasimov, Russian Chief of the General Staff, “likely remains in his post,” but it’s unclear whether President Vladimir Putin retains confidence in him.

The press office of the Russian defense ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

In an intelligence update, the British ministry predicted that Russia will face difficulty regaining the initiative in its war against Ukraine, because generals and other officials will want to seek cover by deferring to their superiors on key decisions.

“Many officials involved in the invasion of Ukraine will likely be increasingly distracted by efforts to avoid personal culpability for Russia’s operational setbacks,” the Ministry of Defence said.

— Ted Kemp

Russia said 900 Ukrainian soldiers have been taken to a former prison colony, in a Russian-controlled part of Donetsk.

Speaking on Wednesday, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said, citing Russia’s defense ministry, that 959 Ukrainian fighters, including 51 with severe wounds, “have laid down their arms over two days.”

While the injured were receiving medical care at a hospital in the pro-Russian “Donetsk People’s Republic” in the Donbas region of east Ukraine, “the rest were sent to a pre-trial detention center,” she said, in Olenivka, where a former prison colony is located.

On Monday, Ukraine’s human rights ombudsman said on Telegram that the Russian military was holding more than 3,000 civilians from Mariupol at the former penal colony with some subjected to interrogation and torture, she said. The information is unverified, however.

The soldiers had been holed up in the Azovstal steelworks plant in Mariupol and had been evacuated earlier this week and taken to Russian-controlled territory. There were expectations that they could be exchanged for Russian soldiers in Ukrainian control but that’s uncertain.

Ukraine has said there are more of its fighters left in the Azovstal steelworks but has not said how many.

The complex was seen as the last stronghold of Ukraine’s forces in the southern port city — one that Russia has aimed to control from the start of its invasion on Feb. 24 and which is seen as a strategic objective for Moscow as it aims to create a land bridge from Russia to Crimea, which it annexed in 2014.

Ukraine said its soldiers had been “evacuated” while Russia claimed they had “surrendered.”

— Holly Ellyatt

The war in Ukraine is likely to continue through the summer and possibly beyond, despite signs that some parts of the country are returning to some normalcy, Ukraine’s presidential advisor Oleksii Arestovych said, NBC News cited.

“It is quite clear to me that this war is unlikely to end by the fall,” Arestovich said on Ukrainian TV, according to NBC News.

This comes as President Volodymyr Zelenskyy seeks to extend martial law for another 90 days, NBC News reported.

Since the war started on Feb. 24, martial law has been extended twice, with the current order set to end on May 25.

— Chelsea Ong

U.S. President Joe Biden sounded optimistic that Turkey can be persuaded to support Finland and Sweden in their bids to join NATO.

“I think we’re gonna be okay,” Biden told reporters when asked if he could convince Turkey to change its mind.

Biden’s remark came two days after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan doubled down on his country’s opposition to the two new candidates for the international security alliance.

The White House nevertheless echoed Biden’s optimism at a press briefing.

“We’re confident that at the end of the day, Finland and Sweden will have an effective and efficient accession process, [and] that Turkey’s concerns can be addressed,” said Biden’s national security advisor Jake Sullivan.

He noted that U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken was in talks with his Turkish counterpart. “We feel very good about where this will track to,” Sullivan said.

— Kevin Breuninger

The U.S. reopened its embassy in Kyiv after closing it for three months before and during Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

“When we suspended operations at the embassy, we made the point clear: while we would relocate U.S. embassy personnel for their safety and security, this would in no way prevent our engagement with and support for, the Ukrainian people, government and civil society as well as our allies and partners,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken wrote in a statement.

As it raised the American flag over the compound, the U.S. became the latest Western country to resume diplomatic operations in Kyiv.

Blinken said the U.S. enhanced security measures and protocols at the embassy ahead of the reopening and return of American diplomats.

 — Amanda Macias