Zelensky decides to form a Crimean Liberation Council and Kadyrov pushes new Chechen troops to the battlefronts

The Ukrainian presidency announced that President Volodymyr Zelensky issued a decree forming a Crimean Liberation Council, while Chechnya announced the dispatch of a new batch of special forces to Ukraine.

Zelenskiy's decision came as Ukrainian intelligence announced the targeting of a railway line in Crimea used to transport Russian ammunition, equipment and soldiers to continue what it described as aggression against the country.

On the other hand, the authorities of the pro-Russian Crimea Peninsula announced the completion of maintenance work on the damaged railway between Simferopol and Sevastopol, with full transport to resume on Friday, after the suspension of trains after a freight train derailed.

The railway authority said the accident was caused by acts of vandalism by unknown persons, while the speaker of the Crimean parliament blamed Ukraine for the accident.

The Russian State Security Service confirmed the opening of an investigation into the causes of the incident, and its results will be announced after the completion of the investigations.

Russia's ambassador to the UN Security Council, Vassily Nebenzia, accused Western countries of complicity in what he described as war crimes because of their continued supply of heavy weapons to Ukraine.

During an open session of the UN Security Council, called by Moscow to discuss Western arms supplies to Ukraine, Nebenzia stressed that the West wants to achieve a strategic defeat for Russia.

Robert Wood, deputy U.S. representative to the U.N. Security Council, said the weapons provided by Washington and Ukraine's other friends were not a reason for Russia's unjustified war on Ukraine to continue.

US miscalculation of weapons sent to Ukraine

In Washington, the Wall Street Journal quoted sources familiar with the matter as saying that the Pentagon miscalculated the value of the weapons it sent to Ukraine at least $3 billion.

Had it not been for the mistake, the Pentagon would not have needed to ask Congress for more money for Kiev.

The Pentagon inadvertently adopted a higher value for some of the weapons it sent to Ukraine, as it adopted assessments of new equipment rather than old equipment that was withdrawn from U.S. stockpiles.

Defense Ministry officials said the calculations used in military aid announcements since the error was discovered were all correct.

Chechen troops to frontlines

As fighting in Ukraine continues amid a state of "intractability", the President of the Russian Republic of Chechnya, Ramadan Kadyrov, announced the dispatch of additional troops of the 96th Regiment of the Russian National Guard to Ukraine, wishing all fighters to return victorious and safely.

Kadyrov wrote on Telegram: "From Grozny, the capital of Chechnya, to the area of the Russian military operation led by Mehmet Toshaev, soldiers of one of the most ready and effective units in combat of the 96th Russian Operations Regiment," according to Russian media.

"The fighters of the regiment will join their brothers who previously replaced their comrades in this mission, knowing that most of them participated several times in special missions within the framework of the Russian military operation," Kadyrov said.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky praised his soldiers after Ukrainian forces succeeded in fierce battles in the eastern town of Pakhmut.

In his evening video address Thursday, he said: "First, the defensive brigades did a good job, carrying out the most important strategic tasks." "The attack brigades are doing a good job," he said.

He deliberately avoided giving any details of combat operations or any other steps he discussed with his military council. He also said the air force and air defense forces had done an "excellent job" in protecting civilians.

Ukraine announces the destruction of Russian missiles

Separately, the Ukrainian air force announced Thursday that it had shot down 29 of the 30 cruise missiles launched by Russia in a new night attack on Kiev and other Ukrainian regions that killed at least one person in Odessa.

Politically, new US sanctions targeting Russia's "war machine" were announced on Friday as part of efforts at the Group of Seven summit in Japan to tighten the noose on Moscow, a senior US official said.

The ninth series of Russian missile strikes targeting the capital Kiev, especially since the beginning of May, comes at a time when Kiev says it is finishing preparations for a large-scale counteroffensive to drive Russian forces out of Ukrainian territory.

During this latest "night offensive", Ukrainian forces succeeded in destroying "33 air targets, including 29 missiles and 4 drones," said Ukrainian Air Force Commander Mykola Ulishchuk.

But the Russian Defense Ministry said it had "hit" and "destroyed" all its targets in the night strikes.

The ministry did not specify the targets hit, but said only that they targeted "large warehouses of foreign weapons and equipment as well as enemy reserves".

The Civil and Military Administration in Kiev said the attacks by Russian forces since early May were "unprecedented in strength, intensity and diversity".

It said Russian strategic bombers fired cruise missiles from the Caspian region, while reconnaissance drones flew over the capital later. "All enemy targets were spotted and destroyed in Kiev's airspace," it said.

In the Black Sea port of Odessa, one person was killed and two wounded during an attack on an industrial site, an army spokesman said.

The army reported "cruise missile" attacks in the central Vinnytsia region, while local media reported explosions in Khmelnitsky, about 100 km to the west.