Victorious news on 455th day of war: Ukrainian forces use long-range missiles and await large batch of tanks

Ukraine’s Orthodox Church switches to a new calendar

On 24 May, the Bishops' Council of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine considered the calendar issue and approved a new church calendar. The transition to the New Julian calendar will take place on 1 September.

The decision was voted for by the bishops at the Council of Bishops held in Kyiv at the Refectory Church of the Kyiv Cave Monastery. One bishop voted against the transition, and another abstained.

In accordance with the decision of the Bishops' Council of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU), it was decided to switch to the New Julian calendar from 1 September this year. Parishes and monasteries that wish to do so retain the right to use the old calendar. The general use of the New Julian calendar will be introduced after the approval of this decision by the local council, which will be convened on 27 July.

The OCU added that parishes and monasteries wishing to follow the old calendar will have this opportunity: "the calendar reform will take place without coercion, gradually and consciously." Earlier, the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church announced the transition to the New Julian calendar on 1 September.

The US lawmakers call on Biden to transfer Russian central bank assets to Ukraine

US congressmen led by Adam Schiff and Brian Fitzpatrick called on President Joe Biden to transfer the assets of the Russian central bank frozen due to sanctions to Kyiv.

"We urge you to use your authority to transfer billions of dollars worth of Russian central bank assets frozen under US sanctions to meet urgent military and humanitarian needs in Ukraine," they said in an appeal to the US president.

In their letter, the US lawmakers cited the options available under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act and past precedents, such as President George W. Bush's transfer of $1.7 billion from Iraqi government funds to compensate victims of terrorism.

110 Leopard tanks from Germany

Ukraine's Ambassador to Germany Oleksiy Makeiev has announced that Kyiv will soon receive a large batch of Leopard 1A5 heavy battle tanks.

"110 Leopards 1A5. Coming soon," the diplomat said, attaching a selfie with one of the tanks and a video from a repair shop.

The plan also includes training for Ukrainian tank crews and the supply of spare parts and ammunition.

The Ukrainian Armed Forces are already using long-range missiles

On 24 May, Ukraine's Defence Minister Oleksii Reznikov confirmed that the Ukrainian Armed Forces are already using the long-range Storm Shadow missiles supplied by the UK.

"We had the opportunity to shake hands with pilots who were trained in the UK and are already successfully using the Storm Shadow weapon," Reznikov said.

The range of these missiles is up to 300 kilometres. The use of such weapons will allow them to target targets throughout the occupied territory, up to the Crimean bridge.

Prigozhin admits Russia has failed with "demilitarisation"

The founder of the Wagner PMC, Yevgeny Prigozhin, has admitted that Russia has failed with "demilitarisation" and "denazification", which Russian dictator Vladimir Putin has called the main objectives of the war against Ukraine

"We came in rudely, we walked with our boots all over the territory in search of Nazis. While we were looking for Nazis, we killed everyone we could, then we came to Kyiv, then we called it in Russian, sh***ed ourselves and left. Then we went to Kherson. They pissed themselves and withdrew. After that, Izium, Krasnyi Lyman. And somehow everything is not working out for us," Prigozhin said.

According to him, instead of demilitarising Ukraine, Russia helped it militarise.

"If at the beginning of the 'special operation' they had 500 tanks, now they have 5,000 tanks. If they had 20,000 people who could fight, now they have 400,000. How did we demilitarise it? It turns out, on the contrary, we have militarised it," Prigozhin said.