[Korrespondent] 22:15 According to US estimates, Russia has lost 100,000 soldiers and mercenaries near Bakhmut in the past five months, said John Kirby, coordinator of the White House National Security Council. According to Washington, more than 20,000 Russians out of the total were killed, and about half of them were mercenaries of PMC Vvagner from among the prisoners.
22:12 Zelensky said in an evening video message that he had held a meeting today with all levels of government and protection: the head of government, ministers, the Office of the President; the commander-in-chief, the heads of the Main Intelligence Directorate and the Foreign Intelligence Service, the head of the SBU, the secretary of the National Security and Defense Council reported. "The first question is the consequences of Russian strikes, including missile strikes. We are working with partners as actively as possible to make the protection of our skies even more reliable," the president said.
21:58 China voted for the resolution of the UN General Assembly, in which Russia is called the aggressor because of its invasion of Ukraine. As a rule, the representatives of China abstained in voting for similar draft resolutions. The vote took place on April 26, but the media and commentators paid attention to the text of the resolution and the fact that Beijing voted "yes" only today, Radio Liberty reports.
The resolution on UN cooperation with the Council of Europe was supported by 122 countries. In addition to China, the document was approved by several other countries that are considered friendly to the Russian Federation, in particular Kazakhstan, Armenia, India and Brazil. Russia was one of five countries that voted against.
The document, in particular, refers to the "unprecedented challenges" facing Europe "after the aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine, and earlier against Georgia." It also calls for redress for the damage caused to the victims of the aggression.
21:53 Zelensky submitted to the Verkhovna Rada bills on extending martial law and mobilization in Ukraine for 90 days from May 20.
21:22 The United States will soon provide Ukraine with additional military assistance packages, said John Kirby, coordinator for strategic communications at the White House National Security Council. At the same time, he added that Washington had already handed over to Ukraine almost everything that it asked for for a counteroffensive.
21:06 Zaluzhny said that he had a telephone conversation with the head of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley: “I informed in detail about the situation in all sectors of the front. The situation is difficult, but controlled. focus their efforts on offensive operations.
The Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine also spoke about the daily bombing of civilian targets by Russia and stressed the need to strengthen the air defense system. Separately, he dwelled on the topic of staffing Ukrainian units and the importance of timely deliveries of weapons, military equipment and ammunition in sufficient quantities.
20:37 Switzerland, which chairs the UN Security Council from today, will not allow the re-export of its weapons to Ukraine until the country's parliament makes an appropriate decision, said Permanent Representative of Switzerland to the UN Pascal Christina Beriswil.
19:49 The American Institute for the Study of War (ISW) has calculated that Putin has changed commanders in Ukraine 17 times since the beginning of the war.
| That sounds like President Abraham Lincoln’s search for the right commander of his army. |
19:18 The Russians shelled Kherson, there were fires in private houses, it is known about one wounded, said the head of the OVA Alexander Prokudin.
19:04 The Russians fired at the village of Kucherovka, Kupyansky district, and the city of Volchansk, Chuguevsky district, Kharkiv region, two people were injured, Oleg Sinegubov, head of the OVA, said. In addition, shelling damaged at least three private houses and outbuildings in the Kupyansky district.
18:55 Polish President Andrzej Duda promised that Warsaw would make every effort during its presidency of the EU Council in the first half of 2025 so that Ukraine and Moldova become members of the European Union.
18:09 "Governor" of Sevastopol Mikhail Razvozhaev said that the forces of the fleet, in cooperation with air defense, are now repelling an attack by supposedly Ukrainian drones on the outer roadstead, one UAV has already been shot down. In turn, the "head" of Crimea, Sergei Aksyonov, also reported a drone shot down in the west of the occupied peninsula.
17:56 Zelensky said that he had a telephone conversation with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau: "We discussed a program of long-term defense cooperation. He noted the beginning of the confiscation of Russian assets and called for increased sanctions pressure on Russia. We agreed on positions on the eve of the NATO summit and other international events."
17:33 Adviser to the Mayor of Mariupol Petr Andryushchenko showed how Azovstal looks like now. According to him, the Russians continue demining and equipping the military base on the territory of the plant. The passage past Azovstal is officially closed for repairs for security reasons of the invaders.
17:18 OK Pivnich clarified that the Russian army launched an air strike on the border areas of the Chernihiv region: launches of two guided bombs from Su-35 aircraft in the village of Lizunovka were recorded. As a result of the airstrike, one child born in 2009 was killed and, preliminary, two more people were injured. The building of a general education school was partially destroyed (it did not work) and private houses were damaged.
16:29 The Russians attacked the educational institution of the Novgorod-Seversky district of the Chernihiv region. The institution itself did not work, but a child who was nearby died. Information about the victims is being specified, said the head of the OVA Vyacheslav Chaus.
16:27 In Kherson, the largest shelter in the city was installed, said the head of the GVA Roman Mrochko. It has a high degree of protection, because the thickness of the walls is 30 cm, the length of the building is 9 meters. They set up a shelter in the area where the largest concentration of people and give out free hot meals.
16:18 In the Nikolaev region this summer, access to the Black Sea beaches and forests will be prohibited, but inland waters will be available for recreation, said the head of the OVA Vitaly Kim. He clarified that it would be possible to rest in the territories of the region where there were no military operations and there is no threat of mines. Currently, locations are being worked out, which will be used for physical and psychological rehabilitation. Residents of neighboring regions will also be invited there, Kim added.
15:57 The purpose of the new missile attacks of the Russian Federation is logistics routes and centers, spokesperson of OK Pivden Natalya Gumenyuk said: "They are trying to look for logistics routes and logistics centers. But they have not left the energy sector either."
15:39 Today, the Ministry of Reintegration once again appealed to the Russian side and the International Committee of the Red Cross with a demand to open humanitarian corridors so that Ukrainians from the temporarily occupied territories could travel to government-controlled territory, Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said. She stressed that the Russians, who threaten to start deporting Ukrainians without Russian passports, themselves do not release them "in violation of international law and contrary to elementary humanitarian considerations."
In addition, unlike Ombudsman Dmitry Lubinets, who advised taking Russian passports simply to survive in the occupation, Vereshchuk advises not to take Russian passports, not to cooperate with the occupiers and, if possible, to leave. In social networks, they began to criticize her for such advice, because the Russians are forcing people in the occupation to receive Russian citizenship.
15:03 Commander of the Air Force of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Mykola Oleshchuk published a photo of a Su-25 attack aircraft armed with American Zuni air-to-ground missiles. These air missiles are designed to destroy ground targets, fortifications, other objects and columns of enemy equipment on the march. In January, the United States included 4,000 Zuni unguided rockets in one of its military aid packages to Ukraine.
14:41 The Prosecutor General's Office of Bulgaria has launched an investigation into the application by the government of the country of European sanctions against Russia, writes Euractiv. The National Tax Service of Bulgaria reported in February that the country had not imposed sanctions against Russian citizens or companies included in the EU sanctions list since 2014. Uniform restrictions were introduced in 2014 after the annexation of Crimea. In Bulgaria, almost 300,000 Russians own more than 500,000 properties. The tax service has not issued a single act on the application of sanctions over the past eight years, the newspaper notes.
14:26 The Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation stated that it "reached the goal" of today's strike on Ukraine, as a result of which more than 30 people were injured. According to Moscow, a group missile attack by "long-range precision weapons" was allegedly carried out on the objects of the military-industrial complex of Ukraine.
14:21 Reznikov asked Japan to provide equipment to jam Russian drones in order to strengthen the protection of civilian infrastructure, the minister said in an interview with Kyodo News. He noted that he understands the neutrality of Japan, because the country's Constitution prohibits it from transferring weapons. "But you are a very, very modern country with electronic warfare capabilities. We need this to be vital," he added.
14:16 Spare parts for Western equipment are also produced in Ukraine, and some of them are better than the original, Reznikov said: "We even produce some spare parts for Western equipment on the Ukrainian market. Our enterprises, and not only state-owned, but also private, fantastically learned to do some things." The minister said that he personally held in his hands one of the parts for the American M109 self-propelled guns, which was made at a Ukrainian enterprise, and it was better than the original.
Reznikov also said that there are three lines of maintenance and repair of military equipment. The first is a small simple repair right on the battlefield. The second line is a more complex repair, which can still be done at Ukrainian enterprises not very far from the front line. The third is a complex repair, for which equipment has to be sent abroad.
13:48 The IAEA monitoring mission at the Zaporozhye NPP on April 27 carried out a rotation of personnel, the SNRCU reported. Since the beginning of the work of the permanent monitoring group of the agency in September 2022, this is already the eighth group of experts. Despite the constant presence of IAEA experts, the Russian invaders by their actions cause significant damage to nuclear and radiation safety at the nuclear power plant, which has significantly degraded during the period of occupation, the Ukrainian department stressed.
13:27 The Russian missile attack on the night of May 1 did not damage the energy infrastructure and did not lead to the need to limit consumption, Ukrenergo reported. Electricity generation is sufficient to cover consumption. Repairs are ongoing at many power units of thermal generation.
Electricity exports to Moldova continue, while exports to Poland have been suspended, as the Polish energy system does not currently need additional electricity. Minor imports from Slovakia continue.
12:55 25.6 thousand Russians are fighting against Ukrainian forces in the Bakhmut direction, said Serhiy Cherevaty, spokesman for the Eastern Group of Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. According to him, the enemy attracted 65 tanks, 450 armored fighting vehicles, 154 guns, 56 multiple launch rocket systems. "This is more than the army of the Czech Republic or Hungary," he added. At the same time, the losses of the occupiers in the Bakhmut area amount to about 100 dead daily.
12:29 In the Kiev region on May 1, they will test a system alert, the OVA reported. Several sound sirens are planned to sound in the interval from 15:00 to 15:20. Purpose - to test the software of the territorial automated system of centralized notification.
11:54 In the Bryansk region, the train derailed - previously, this happened due to the undermining of the railway, reports Baza. A train with 60 wagons, loaded with oil products and lumber, derailed due to damage to the track on the Rassukha-Unecha stretch. According to journalists, 7-8 cars turned over on their side, a fire started.
The government of the Bryansk region and Russian Railways confirmed the information and said that there were no victims, traffic on the site was suspended, and delays in passenger trains are possible.
11:38 The government of the Republic of South Africa is trying to convince the Kremlin to refuse Putin's visit to the BRICS summit because of the warrant of the International Criminal Court, the Sunday Times reports, citing sources. According to the publication, South Africa is "quietly" insisting that Putin attend the conference virtually. An unnamed official said that Putin cannot "come here and not be arrested."
11:29 Zelensky said that he had a telephone conversation with New Zealand Prime Minister Chris Hipkins: "Thanked for New Zealand's participation in the training of our military. We look forward to its continuation, as well as further cooperation in defense and humanitarian affairs. We discussed the need for further consolidation of the countries of the Pacific region to support Ukraine".
11:15 Due to night shelling, there is significant damage to the network infrastructure in the Dnepropetrovsk and Kherson regions, the Ministry of Energy reported. At the same time, no damage to electricity generating facilities was recorded, but there is significant damage to distribution networks. As a result, part of the consumers in the city of Dnipro and the region was de-energized, more than 11 thousand subscribers were de-energized in Kherson and 7.1 thousand in the region. Complete elimination of damage will take several days.
10:56 The number of wounded as a result of the Russian missile attack on Pavlograd has increased to 34 people , five of them are children, said the head of the OVA, Sergei Lysak.
10:51 Russian troops massively shelled the Kherson region from multiple rocket launchers, mortars, heavy artillery, aircraft and UAVs - more than 40 houses, hospitals, schools and kindergartens were damaged, the OVA reported. In the village of Kizomys, Belozersk community, one person died and one was injured. In the village of Odradokamenka, one person died as a result of an explosion in his own house. In the village of Belozerka, one person was injured, and in Kherson, two people were injured, including a 14-year-old child. Houses in coastal areas have become uninhabitable.
10:26 Ex-People's Deputy from the Opposition Platform for Life Oleg Voloshin, who fled Ukraine before a full-scale invasion, faces up to 15 years in prison - the SBU, together with the State Bureau of Investigation, has collected an evidence base. During 2020-2021, Voloshin actively assisted the top military-political leadership of the Russian Federation in carrying out large-scale subversive activities against Ukraine.
09:49 About $9.5 billion is needed to restore Kharkiv, Mayor Igor Terekhov said. At the same time, he clarified that this is not the final figure, since the shelling continues and now it is impossible to finally calculate all the losses.
09:17 The Pope said that the Vatican is involved in a "secret peacekeeping mission", the purpose of which is "to try to end the conflict between Russia and Ukraine" and return Ukrainian children taken to Russia, writes Reuters. The pontiff promised to reveal the details of the mission later. He also said that during his trip to Hungary, he spoke about the situation in Ukraine with Prime Minister Viktor Orban and with the representative of the Russian Orthodox Church in Budapest, Metropolitan Hilarion.
08:48 The General Staff announced the approximate losses of the Russian Federation as of the morning of May 1.
- personnel - about 190,960 (+450) people liquidated,
- tanks - 3700 (+1),
- armored combat vehicles - 7192 (+3),
- artillery systems - 2921 (+7),
- MLRS - 544 (+0),
- air defense systems - 295 (+0),
- aircraft - 308 (+0),
- helicopters - 294 (+0),
- UAV operational-tactical level - 2476 (+1),
- cruise missiles - 932 (+0),
- ships/boats - 18 (+0),
- automotive equipment and tankers - 5845 (+3),
- special equipment - 359 (+2).
08:26 Russia continues to focus its main efforts on conducting offensive operations in the Bakhmut, Avdeevsky and Maryinsky directions. Over the past day, units of the Ukrainian Defense Forces repulsed more than 36 enemy attacks on the indicated sectors of the front. Bakhmut and Maryinka remain at the epicenter of hostilities, Ukrainian defenders are holding the line, the General Staff said in a morning report.
According to the General Staff, in the Berdyansk district of the Zaporozhye region, about 400 prisoners recruited by PMC Wagner arrived at one of the field camps of the invaders. A similar replenishment is expected in the Luhansk region: it is known about the planned training at one of the training grounds near the city of up to 200 people from among the convicts. The preparation will take several weeks. The personnel of the commandant's company, which provides protection for this contingent, were ordered to open fire to kill in case of any attempts to escape or disobedience.
The so-called leadership of the Luhansk region is working on the issue of alienating the real estate of Ukrainian citizens who left the occupied territories. The selected real estate is planned to be transferred to the disposal of law enforcement agencies.
07:43 Russian missiles hit the Pavlograd district of the Dnepropetrovsk region: 25 people were injured, including three children , said the head of the OVA Serhiy Lysak. An industrial enterprise was damaged in Pavlograd, and 19 high-rise buildings, 25 private houses, six institutions of school and preschool education, and five shops were also damaged in a residential area. There are also destructions in the communities of the district: in Verbkovskaya - almost 40 residential buildings were beaten, in Yuryevskaya - two, in Mezhiretskaya - a school was damaged.
07:22 On the night of May 1, the air defense forces destroyed 15 out of 18 Kh-101/Kh-555 air-launched cruise missiles, Zaluzhny said. At about 2:30 a.m., the Russians attacked Ukraine from strategic aircraft - nine Tu-95s from the Olenegorsk region (Murmansk region) and two Tu-160s from the Caspian Sea region.
06:47 Russian Federation made another massive air attack on Ukraine at night. According to preliminary information, the missiles were fired from Tu95ms strategic aircraft, said Sergey Popko, head of the KGVA. The Russians attacked the capital in a complex way - simultaneously with cruise missiles and drones. According to preliminary information, in the airspace of Kyiv, all enemy missiles and UAVs were destroyed by air defense forces, civilian casualties and destruction of residential facilities or infrastructure were not recorded.
00:03 The "authorities" of the occupied Berdyansk, Zaporozhye region, reported two explosions in the city. According to the adviser to the mayor of Mariupol, Petr Andryushchenko, the strike was carried out at the airport where the Russian military and the ammunition depot were located.