You missed the latest events on the war in Ukraine? 20 Minutes summarizes for you every evening. Here’s the essential of this Thursday, May 14, 2026, the 1,541st day of the conflict.
The fact of the day
While whispers of new negotiations echoed behind the scenes, Russia carried out a particularly deadly attack from Wednesday to Thursday night. The massive bombings that hit the country killed sixteen people, including two children, and injured 45, further diminishing hopes of ending this deadly conflict that has lasted for over four years.
Russia launched 675 drones and 56 missiles, as indicated by the Ukrainian air force, claiming to have shot down 652 drones and 41 missiles. The capital, Kiev, the hardest hit, will observe a day of mourning on Friday, announced its mayor, Vitali Klitschko.
Earlier in the day, a UN vehicle was struck by Russian explosive drones in the southern part of the country, without causing injuries, according to Volodymyr Zelensky. “The Russians could not have ignored which vehicle they were targeting,” he denounced.
Quote of the day
« By bombing civilians, Russia demonstrates not its strength but its weakness: it is running out of solutions on the military front and does not know how to end its aggressive war »
This is a statement from French President Emmanuel Macron, following the wave of Russian airstrikes. Like him, many allies of Ukraine denounced this attack, seeing it as further proof that Russia does not aspire to peace. “While Russia openly mocks diplomatic efforts, we continue to strengthen Ukraine,” stated European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, deploring “another night of death and destruction.”
Number of the day
180,000. This is the number of detainees in Russian prisons that have decreased in five years, partly because Moscow has sent prisoners to fight in Ukraine, the head of the penitentiary administration indicated on Thursday. This represents a drop of almost 40%.
The military authorities have massively recruited from the prison population since the large-scale offensive in 2022, including people convicted of serious crimes who, if they survive the front, can return free. According to the head of the Russian penitentiary administration, detainees are also increasingly involved in military production, a practice inherited from the Soviet gulag and now serving the war economy.
Trend
The war in Ukraine has led to the resignation of the Latvian government. This Thursday, Latvian Prime Minister Evika Silina announced her resignation. Her position had become untenable in the last twenty-four hours: her center-right government coalition in power since 2023 lost its narrow majority in the Saeima, due to the defection of the elected officials of the Progressive Party to which the resigned Minister of Defense, Andris Spruds, belongs.
The cause: the Baltic state’s inability to prevent the recent intrusion of Ukrainian drones. It was two Ukrainian drones that crossed the Russian border on May 7 and crashed in Latvia, likely after their guidance system was scrambled by the Russian air defense.
One of them hit a fuel storage site in Rezekne, in the east of the country. A fire broke out, quickly contained by firefighters. Another Ukrainian drone crashed in Latvia on March 25. These incidents caused no casualties or significant material damage. But they highlighted the deficiencies of the country’s air defense, unable to neutralize a stray drone in its airspace before it fell on its territory.
