Missiles over Kyiv and a diplomatic row

What did the security picture look like on 19 May 2023? Two strands ran side by side in the days before that date: continued Russian missile fire on Ukrainian cities, and a diplomatic dispute reaching well beyond the battlefield.

Strikes on the capital and the west

On 13 May 2023, Russia launched cruise missiles at Ternopil in western Ukraine, injuring two civilians. The attack showed that cities far from the front line remained within reach.

On 16 May 2023, more than a dozen explosions were reported in Kyiv as Russia fired a missile barrage at the capital and other Ukrainian cities. Ukrainian forces said they had shot down six Kh-47M2 Kinzhal hypersonic missiles.

A dispute over a sanctioned ship

The second strand concerned South Africa. On 13 May 2023, South Africa said it maintained a neutral and non-aligned stance on the Russo-Ukrainian War. The statement followed an accusation by the U.S. ambassador, Reuben Brigety, that South Africa had loaded a sanctioned Russian ship with weapons in December 2022. The accusation caused a diplomatic crisis between the United States and South Africa.

The ship was the Lady R, a sanctioned Russian cargo vessel that docked at Simon's Town Naval Base in December 2022. It was carrying military cargo, and the secretive nature of the docking was later a source of controversy. The ambassador's allegation was that South African military supplies were put aboard for use in Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Why the two strands mattered together

The strikes showed the continuing pressure on Ukrainian air defences, with the reported Kinzhal interceptions on 16 May 2023 at the centre of that picture. The Lady R row showed that the war was also testing relations between Washington and a country that described itself as non-aligned. By 19 May 2023, both questions remained open: how Ukraine would withstand the missile campaign, and how third countries would position themselves on a war that was already affecting diplomacy far from Kyiv.