Ukraine war briefing: Biden and Macron release joint ‘roadmap’ backing efforts to use frozen Russian assets to aid Kyiv

French president Emmanuel Macron and US president Joe Biden have aligned their countries’ support for Ukraine and opposition to Russia during Biden’s state visit in Paris. A joint “roadmap” released by the presidents included a commitment to support efforts to use frozen Russian assets to help Kyiv. Tapping profits from Russian assets has drawn concerns from some countries, but a US Treasury official said this week that the US and its G7 partners were making progress. Biden said if Putin succeeds in his war with Ukraine, he would not stop there. “It’s about much more than Ukraine. All of Europe will be threatened, but we’re not going to let that happen,” he said. “The United States is standing strong with Ukraine. We’re standing with our allies. And we’re standing with France.”

At least 28 people are dead after Ukrainian strikes on parts of the Russian-held Luhansk and Kherson regions, according to Russia-installed officials. Russia and Ukraine continued to exchange drone attacks overnight into Saturday. A Ukrainian attack Friday on the small town of Sadove in the Kherson region killed 22 and wounded 15 people, Moscow-appointed governor Vladimir Saldo said. Leonid Pasechnik, the Russia-installed governor in the partially occupied Luhansk region said Saturday that two more bodies had been pulled from the rubble following Ukraine’s missile attack. Russian state news agency Interfax cited regional authorities as saying this brought the death toll to six. Ukraine did not comment on either assault.

Russian forces have installed eight barges on the southern side of the Kerch Bridge in Crimea in an effort to defend the bridge and shipping channel, according to the UK Ministry of Defence’s latest intelligence update. The barges are also an attempt to reduce the angles of approach for Ukrainian Unmanned Surface Vehicles. Installation had begun by 10 May and was completed 22 May after previously installed barges were damaged by storms.

Ukrainian air defense shot down nine out of 13 Russian drones over the central Poltava region, southeastern Zaporizhzhia and Dnipropetrovsk regions, and the Kharkiv region in the north-east, Ukraine’s air force said Saturday. Dnipropetrovsk regional governor Serhiy Lysak said the overnight drone attack damaged commercial and residential buildings. A Ukrainian military spokesperson said Ukraine now controlled more than half of the town of Vovchansk, a flashpoint for fighting since Russia launched a renewed offensive in Ukraine’s northeastern Kharkiv region last month. It wasn’t immediately possible to independently confirm the claim.

Ukrainian officials said on Saturday there was an attempt on the life of the ex-mayor of Kupiansk, a city in Ukraine’s northeastern Kharkiv region. The Main Intelligence Directorate of Ukraine’s Ministry of Defense said Hennadiy Matsehora was in “critical condition” after he was attacked on Friday in Russia’s Belgorod region, bordering Ukraine. Officials said he “voluntarily agreed to full cooperation” when Russian troops invaded and in June 2022 “signed the so-called protocol for the creation of the occupation Kharkiv administration”. After the Ukrainian Armed Forces took back control of Kupiansk, Matsehora had “escaped with the Russians to the Belgorod region”, Ukrainian intelligence said.