Press digest – Ukraine

Third month of heroic resistance of Ukraine against Russian military invasion

Key updates on the war against Ukraine as of May 9, 2022

#ArmUkraineNow

#SaveMariupol

This year, we say “Never again” differently. We hear “Never Again” differently. It sounds painful, cruel. Without an exclamation, but with a question mark. You say: never again? Tell Ukraine about it.

Eternal honor to all who opposed Nazism!

Eternal memory to all those killed during the Second World War!

President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky

 

DESTRUCTION AND LOSSES

📌An air bomb was dropped on a school in the village of Belohorivka near Lysychansk. There were about 90 people hiding there. 60 people died. Those 30 people who were rescued from under the rubble are severely injured.

 📌The assault on the Azovstal plant by Russian troops continues. There are hundreds of wounded soldiers on the territory of the plant, they need an urgent evacuation.

Ukraine does not yet have heavy weapons that would allow unblocking Mariupol. Ukrainian troops need more heavy weapons to unblock Mariupol militarily. This was stated by Volodymyr Zelensky during a joint press conference with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

📌 In recent days, Russian troops have been launching missile strikes on the eastern and southern regions of Ukraine every day. Damaged infrastructure and housing, dozens injured and killed. The Lysychansk oil refinery was shelled once again.

Damage and lesions include:

  • 810 apartments in 32 high-rise buildings, 6 private houses, 2 schools, kindergartens, a medical institution, a boiler house, several enterprises and trade establishments were damaged as a result of a missile strike on Kramatorsk on May 5. 25 people were injured.
  •  On May 6, the city of Severodonetsk, Luhansk region, was under fire 16 times. The Saltivka district in Kharkiv was shelled several times.
  • Smerch volley fire systems and a Mosquito-type missile struck Mykolayiv region. In total on May 6, 5 rocket blows were undertaken in Mykolayiv region. 12 people were injured.
  • On May 7, Russian troops struck six missiles with the help of strategic aircraft in Odesa. As a result of being hit by four missiles, a civilian enterprise in a residential area was damaged. A fire also broke out in an area of ​​about 900 sq.m.
  • 19 settlements of Donetsk region came under fire. At least 85 civilian facilities were destroyed – residential buildings, industrial enterprises, two schools, and livelihoods. On May 8, shelling killed 4 civilians, 8 were injured.

  • 11 people lost connection after the Russian shelling. They hid in the basement in the village of Shepilove, Luhansk region.

  • Poltava, Kherson and Sumy regions were also hit.

📌As a result of daily bombings and shelling by the armed forces of the Russian Federation, 1,635 educational institutions were damaged. 126 of them are completely destroyed.

📌Since the beginning of a full-scale military invasion, the Russians have forcibly deported 181,000 Ukrainian children to Russia. About two thousand of them are orphans who are given for adoption to Russian families.

📌 As of the morning of May 9, more than 641 children were injured in Ukraine as a result of the armed aggression of the Russian Federation. 226 children were killed and 415 were injured in Russia’s war against Ukraine.

📌The situation with access to medical services and medicines is catastrophic in the temporarily occupied regions of Ukraine. There are no conditions for the treatment of cancer patients. Insulin access for diabetics is complicated or completely absent. It is impossible to perform surgical operations. There is a lack of antibiotics.

📌In the Luhansk region, Russian forces are blocking social networks, including Facebook, and Ukrainian Internet sites, – informs Verkhovna Rada Commissioner for Human Rights Liudmyla Denisova.

📌About 25 million tons of grain have been blocked in Ukraine due to port blockades and destroyed infrastructure, the UN said.

📌Because of the strike on the facilities of the Popasna Vodokanal (water supply facilities), 1 million people were left without water, including the occupied territories, – informs Serhiy Haidai, the head of the Luhansk Regional MilitaryAdministration.

📌The Russian army is trying to “cut off” the Luhansk region from Ukraine, taking control of the route Lysychansk – Bakhmut, Russian military equipment has already been transported across the Siversky Donets, Serhiy Haidai, the Head of the Regional Military Administration said.

⚠️ The military in Transnistria is in full combat readiness, – the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

⚠️Russian forces plan to bring back to the Kherson region the coat of arms of those times when the region was part of the Russian Empire, as well as give local residents the right to obtain Russian citizenship – Ombudswoman Liudmyla Denisova.

⚠️Ukrainians are also forced to accept the citizenship of LNR (so called the People’s Republic of Luhansk) – otherwise citizens will be repressed.

⚠️Actors from the temporarily occupied Simferopol and the DNR (unrecognized Donetsk Peoples’ Republic)  are being brought to Kherson to celebrate the rally on May 9.

⚠️In the temporarily occupied territories of Zaporizhzhia region, local residents are being filtered out and evacuations to safe regions of Ukraine are being blocked; agricultural enterprises are being looted.

⚠️Hungary has yet again blocked the approval of the sixth package of sanctions against Russia which was meant for the gradual introduction of an embargo on oil and petroleum products.

 

MARIUPOL NEWS

📌 On May 8, the defenders of Mariupol gave a press conference from Azovstal. Key highlights:

 

  • Defenders killed nearly 2,500 Russian troops.
  • In Mariupol, 25,000 people died, mostly civilians.
  • “There were days when 150 air bombs were dropped on Mariupol,” said Illya Samoylenko, an intelligence officer of the Azov Regiment.
  • On April 25, the Russians captured an unconscious Azov serviceman who then was used in their propaganda. After that, they texted his mother that he was dead.
  • Military aid is not enough, we need more weapons, more ammunition.
  • The international publicity has become so big that there are now many petitions and statements about our salvation. Many people want to help, but they do not know how. Any country could be involved, except for Russia and those countries that support Russia. Any country that has the courage to intervene and stop Russia would be good for us.

 

📌 On May 6, during a ceasefire on the territory of the Azovstal plant, a car was hit by Russians using PTRK. This car was moving towards civilians in order to evacuate them from the plant. As a result of the shelling, 1 defender was killed and 6 wounded.

📌 Also, during the evacuation of civilians from the Azovstal plant, three Ukrainian defenders were killed and six others were injured.

📌 Using the silence mode, Russian soldiers set up a new point to correct shelling and sniper fire on Shlakova Mountain. Transportation began immediately after the shelling ended at 7 am. This was stated by Deputy Mayor Petro Andryushchenko. 

📌The Russian side has started a mass replacement of road signs by Russian-language ones – Mariupol City Council.

📌 Officers of the Russian occupation army are being relocated from combat positions to guard the so-called “parade” on May 9 in Mariupol, according to the Central Intelligence Agency.

📌Russian troops require Mariupol residents to have 3 types of “permissions” to be able to move around the city: a certificate of “filtration”, a permit to move inside the city and a permit to move outside Mariupol.

 

RUSSIAN CONTEXT

⚠️ Russia conducted a simulated launch of Iskander ballistic missiles in Kaliningrad. It is a Russian enclave in the Baltic Sea between two EU and NATO members, Poland and Lithuania.

⚠️ Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that Ukraine’s territorial integrity could be threatened by Poland, as if the country was planning to seize part of our country. Russian media began to reproduce this thesis both in Russian and English.

⚠️ Up to 800 wounded and up to 200 bodies of dead enemy servicemen are in the psychiatric hospital of the village of Malotokmatsky, Rostov region, which was partially handed over to the Russian Armed Forces.

 

⚠️Because of the challenges on the battlefield, the Russians send senior commanders to war. Wrong planning decisions and failure to support continue to undermine Russia’s progress, according to British intelligence.

⚠️Russian invaders are racketeering in the Kherson region – they get drunk, after which they start shootings and “stabbing”. This is stated in new telephone conversations of Russian soldiers whose phone calls were intercepted by the Security Service of Ukraine.

 

DEFENSE UPDATES

📌On May 8, the world’s seven leading economies G7 met virtually. The G7 countries have committed to phase out or ban oil imports from the Russian Federation.

The United States announced new sanctions against Russia, the sanctioned entities included:

  • TV channels “Russia-1”, “First Channel”, NTV
  • heads of Sberbank and Gazprombank.

It is also forbidden for citizens and companies from the United States to sell audit and marketing services in the Russian market.

📌 President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky has announced the launch of the global initiative United24 – an online platform for fundraising in support of Ukraine.

 

📌 Estimated losses of the Russian Federation Army in Ukraine:

📌Units of the Defense Forces of Ukraine restored control over the settlements of Oleksandrivka, Fedorivka, Ukrainka, Shestakovo, Peremoha and part of the village of Cherkaski Tyshky.

📌Since the beginning of the full-scale Russian invasion, with the help of the Security Service of Ukraine 9 exchanges were carried out and 324 prisoners returned to Ukraine.

📌 In the Kharkiv region, 11 Russian snipers who fired on the positions of the Armed Forces of Ukraine were captured. This was reported in the Security Service of Ukraine. In total, since the beginning of the war, the SSU has eliminated more than 140 enemy diversion groups and revealed 4,000 collaborators.

📌 Ukrainian defenders shot down an expensive Russian reconnaissance and strike UAV “Forpost”. It is valued at more than 7 million dollars. – OK “South”.

📌Around the Ukrainian island of Zmiiny, the strike drone complex of the national fleet “Bayraktar TB2” hit the landing craft of the Russians project 11770 “Serna” and two anti-aircraft missile systems “Thor”.

📌 A meeting of the NATO Military Committee, the Alliance’s highest military body, will take place in Brussels on 19 May. It will be attended by the Chiefs of General Staffs of Ukraine, Finland and Sweden.

📌 Biden will sign the bill on lend lease for Ukraine on Monday, May 9. The US president will also sign a new package of weapons for Ukraine worth at least $ 100 million in the coming days, White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki said.

 

HUMANITARIAN CORRIDORS AND EVACUATION UPDATES

📌 On May 8, 10 buses from Mariupol reached the territory controlled by Ukraine. A total of 173 people – both from the city and from the plant “Azovstal”.

📌The evacuation from Luhansk region was disrupted the same day due to Russian shelling. The evacuation bus, which was going to Belohorivka to pick up civilians from all bomb shelters, went under enemy’s fire, they couldn’t pick up people from the village, – the head of the Luhansk regional state administration Serhiy Gaidai.

📌 On May 7, all women, children and the elderly were evacuated from Azovstal, – Deputy Prime Minister – Minister for Reintegration of the Temporarily Occupied Territories of Ukraine, Vice Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk.

📌 On May 6, about 2,100 people were evacuated from the Kherson region on foot or by their own vehicles.

📌 On May 5, about a hundred people from Zaporizhzhia and Donetsk regions arrived by train at night in Lviv. The vast majority of refugees are women and the elderly.

📌Russian troops for the third day in a row do not release residents of Melitopol who want to evacuate from the city – Melitopol Mayor Ivan Fedorov.

 

PUBLIC AND BUSINESS SUPPORT

📌 The Foreign Ministers of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia, the President of the German Bundestag Berbel Bass, the Prime Minister of Canada Justin Trudeau, the First Lady of the United States Jill Biden, and the Director General of the World Health Organization (WHO) Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus have visited Ukraine in recent days.

📌 Trudy Styler, Sting’s wife, activist and producer, met with Ukrainian refugees in Lisbon and expressed support for Ukraine.

📌 Belgian beer giant AB InBev will soon present the popular Ukrainian beer “Chernihiv” on the Belgian market. All proceeds from the sale from this brand will be donated to charity. The company’s businesses in Ukraine are currently closed due to the Russian invasion.

📌 The director of Bondiana’s latest film “No Time to Die” Cary Fukunaga visited Dnipro. “I think the most disgusting thing is that there are people who deny that it happened. I am shocked by the ignorance and what I would describe as a disease of propaganda. And when I see people who write on social networks, or when I myself communicate with people who refuse to believe that Russians are killing innocent civilians! And when they say that Ukrainians are killing their own people, my brain explodes,” the director says. 

📌 “Tonight our hearts are with Ukrainians” – Met Gala in New York dedicated part of the broadcast to the theme of the war in Ukraine. One of the hosts of the evening, the editor of Vogue, the famous English fashion journalist Hamish Bowles, expressed support for Ukrainians. He also called for donations in support of Ukraine: “Tonight our hearts are with Ukrainians and victims of war around the world.”

📌 Pioneers of trip hop, the British band Portishead performed for the first time in seven years at a charity concert in support of Ukraine. In addition, IDLES, Billy Nomates, Katy J Pearson, Heavy Lungs and Wilderman took part in the concert.

📌 Google will send $ 10 million to fight the spread of misinformation about the Ukrainian war, and will provide additional $ 10 million in humanitarian aid.

📌 Estonia will issue a € 2 coin with the inscription “Glory to Ukraine” – Eesti Pank.

📌 EOS will provide Ukraine with high-precision satellite images. The satellite is in orbit and allows you to receive data with ultra-high resolution, the company said.

📌Tennis federations of Russia and Belarus are excluded from the International Tennis Federation (ITF). The aggressor countries will not be able to play in team tennis tournaments.

📌The crew of the American company SpaceX plans to take the blue and yellow flag with them and deliver it into space. In this way, the astronauts want to support the brave Ukrainians, as well as all those who defend freedom in the world.

📌The international organization Save the Children will allocate 72 million hryvnias to support Mariupol families via the “I am Mariupol” centers.

📌 The organizers of the Cannes International Film Festival have officially refused to accept film journalists from Russia amid the war against Ukraine.

📌 Mark Hamill, who played Luke Skywalker in Star Wars, supported Ukraine and President Zelensky.

 

INTERNATIONAL SUPPORT OF UKRAINE

📌The first international conference dedicated to the establishing the Special Tribunal on the Crime of Aggression against Ukraine was held in Vilnius. The establishment of the tribunal closes the gap of the absence of a body that should have jurisdiction to prosecute for the crime of aggression against Ukraine – the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine.

📌16 units of special equipment were handed over to rescuers of the Odesa region by colleagues from Germany. In particular, the SES received fire and rescue vehicles, trucks and engineering equipment, buses and more.

📌The new Montenegro government promises to join all EU sanctions against Russia, said Foreign Minister Ranko Krivokapić during a visit to the Ukrainian Embassy in Montenegro.

📌The UN World Food Program has called for the opening of Ukraine’s Black Sea ports blocked by the Russian navy to prevent the threat of global hunger.

📌Taiwan has introduced control over technology exports to Belarus. Thus, the restrictions previously imposed on exports to Russia have been extended to Belarus, the Taiwanese government said in the statement.

📌The United Kingdom will provide another $ 1.6 billion in military aid to Ukraine. This is the highest level of military payments since the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan.

📌The UK has also announced new sanctions against Russia and Belarus: tariff increases and exports ban. The increase in tariffs will affect trade in goods worth a total of £ 1.4 billion. In

addition, the UK will impose a total ban on the sale of certain goods to Russia totaling £ 250 million. Those include chemicals, rubber, plastics and various equipment.

📌 The United States, France, Germany, Italy and Britain have agreed to tighten sanctions against Russia.

📌Hungary is ready to take part in rebuilding the infrastructure destroyed during the war in Kyiv region and will accept Ukrainian servicemen for treatment. This was announced by Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó.

📌The Republic of Poland will help Ukraine strengthen its defense capabilities: the prime ministers of the countries signed a memorandum.

📌Japan will “diversify” the sources of energy to get rid of dependence on Russia. First and foremost, it is about nuclear energy and renewable energy sources, said Prime Minister Fumio Kishida prior to the meeting with Boris Johnson in London.

📌The US Department of Defense has ordered the production and shipment of Switchblade drones to Ukraine. The contract amount is $ 17.8 million, according to the U.S. Department of Defense.