Worth noting, korrespondent.net has compiled its Invasion of Ukraine series into separate months, beginning May 9th, 2023. Linked in the title.
[Korrespondent] 22:26 The SBU reported that it prevented an attempt on Zelensky, as well as other representatives of the military-political leadership of the state. The assassination attempt was prepared by carefully concealed colonels of the State Security Administration, and they were led by FSB agents from Moscow. Experts say that the SBU officers showed unprecedented professionalism. Read more in the material Multi-level operation.
22:20 Zelensky in an evening video message named the hottest directions at the front: Pokrovskoye, Kurakhovskoye, Kramatorskoye, Limanskoye, Vremyevskoye, Kupyanskoye. The president also announced international “meetings and documents that will definitely become news” in the coming weeks, as well as new visits to Ukraine by partners and new security agreements.
In addition, Zelensky said that he had a telephone conversation with the Prime Minister of Cape Verde - this is the first African country to confirm participation in the Peace Summit.
21:52 There is not a single occupier in Chasovoy Yar, Donetsk region, said the KRAKEN active action unit of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense, which has been defending the city for a month now. “The fighters heroically hold the defense, daily destroy numerous enemies, burn enemy armored vehicles and take prisoners. The enemy is trying to advance from different directions, but thanks to the well-coordinated work of the unit, there is not a single occupier in the city now,” the message says.
21:47 The fifth “inauguration” of Vladimir Putin took place in the Kremlin. Ukraine does not recognize the so-called “elections” that the Russians held, including in the temporarily occupied Ukrainian territories, and, accordingly, the “presidency” also does not recognize, about which the Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a special statement. But not all of Ukraine’s partners share the same opinion. More details - in the material the United States recognizes it, Kiev does not.
20:18 During the day, the Russians carried out 14 strikes with kamikaze drones in the Nikopol district of the Dnepropetrovsk region and twice fired at populated areas with artillery, said the head of the OVA Sergei Lysak. Four people were injured, ten private houses and power lines were damaged.
19:25 The Cabinet of Ministers supported Zelensky’s draft decree on the creation of a separate branch of troops within the Armed Forces of Ukraine - the Unmanned Systems Forces, Defense Minister Rustem Umerov said. Now the Ministry of Defense must prepare and submit a corresponding bill to the government for consideration.
19:21 Denmark is allocating 250 million Danish kroner (about 33.5 million euros) for urgent humanitarian needs in Ukraine, the country’s Foreign Ministry reported. The package provides basic aid in the form of food, medicine, water and housing to Ukrainians in the worst-affected areas of the war. Particular attention is paid to protecting the most vulnerable segments of the population.
19:10 Zelensky said that today he held a number of international negotiations with the leaders of Belgium, Spain, Latvia and Finland. I personally invited them to the Peace Summit in Switzerland and thanked them for confirming their participation.
18:49 Latvia, within the framework of the IT coalition, transferred communications equipment worth about 100 thousand euros to Ukraine. It should provide brigades with communications at the tactical level, the Ministry of Defense reported.
18:22 In the Belgorod region, a Russian drone fell on the territory of a kindergarten. According to the opposition Russian publication Astra, on the morning of May 6, an advanced Russian Lancet drone was discovered on the territory of a state kindergarten in the village of Oktyabrsky. The drone did not explode and no one was injured. Security forces evacuated 47 children and 30 kindergarten employees and seized the fallen UAV.
18:14 Men liable for military service do not give up their attempts to illegally cross the Ukrainian border. In general, there are more and more people who decide to flee the country. The reason is the new law on mobilization, which will come into force on May 18. The section of the border with Romania has become a “popular” place for crossing, but there is difficult terrain and the Tisza River is quite dangerous. Read about why it is so dangerous in the material River of Death (18+).
17:47 Since the beginning of a full-scale war, the SBU has opened more than 2.5 thousand cases against traitors, almost 500 cases against spotters and eliminated dozens of Russian intelligence networks, head of the Security Service Vasily Malyuk said in a commentary to RBC-Ukraine. According to him, last year alone the SBU exposed 47 agent networks, and since the beginning of this year - 11 more. Malyuk added that most Russian agents are detained at the stage when they have not yet had time to cause harm.
17:23 TCC warned Ukrainians about criminal liability for messages on social networks about the movements of their employees. Such messages may be regarded as obstruction of the legitimate activities of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and other military formations during a special period, the Khmelnitsky TCC emphasized.
16:51 About half of the missiles from North Korea that Russia fired at Ukraine did not reach their target, the Office of the Prosecutor General told Reuters. In total, prosecutors examined the wreckage of 21 of the roughly 50 North Korean ballistic missiles Russia fired at Ukraine between late December and late February. About half of the missiles strayed from the programmed trajectory and exploded in the air; in such cases, the debris was not found, the Office of the Prosecutor General explained.
They also noted that the last recorded launch of a North Korean KN-23 missile against Ukraine was carried out on February 27. The total number of recorded launches coincides with intelligence data, according to which the DPRK supplied Russia with about 50 ballistic missiles. At the same time, Kyiv is still investigating whether Pyongyang sent instructors to Russia to monitor missile launches.
16:20 Today, two X-59/X-69 guided aircraft missiles were destroyed in the Odessa region, the Air Force reported.
16:16 Belarus will also conduct nuclear exercises in parallel with Russia, said Secretary of State of the Security Council of the Republic of Belarus Alexander Volfovich. According to him, Minsk “will conduct a check of the army using weapons capable of using tactical nuclear weapons,” and this check will be “synchronized” with Russia. The Ministry of Defense of Belarus reported that the country has already begun a sudden inspection of non-strategic nuclear weapons carriers. As part of the inspection, the Iskander division and the Su-25 squadron will be put on alert.
16:07 NATO Speaker Farah Dahlalla called Moscow's nuclear rhetoric "dangerous and irresponsible." "Our collective deterrence and defense will continue to protect every inch of Alliance territory," she said. Dakhlallah emphasized that “Ukraine has the right to self-defense enshrined in the UN Charter, and NATO allies will continue to support this right.” And Russia, in her words, “started this illegal war and must end it.”
15:35 The head of the Polish military counterintelligence service, Jaroslaw Strozhik, said that Putin is already ready for a small military operation against a NATO country: “Putin, of course, is already ready for some kind of mini-operation against one of the Baltic countries, for example, to enter the famous Narva. Or land on one of the Swedish islands."
15:26 Kosovo will transfer ammunition for 120-mm, 60-mm and 81-mm mortars to Ukraine, Defense Minister Eyup Machedonsi said. He also said that the partially recognized republic has already transferred tactical vehicles and armored vehicles to Ukraine, which will be sent to the Ukrainian Armed Forces next week.
15:08 EU member states will buy weapons for the needs of the Armed Forces of Ukraine from Ukrainian manufacturers using funds from the European Peace Facility, said Minister for Strategic Industries Alexander Kamyshin following the results of the Ukraine-EU Defense Industries Forum. The minister noted that the EPF is an effective tool that has already been successfully used to compensate European partners for the costs of supplying their own weapons to Ukraine.
14:33 Scholz called on developing countries to take part in the Global Peace Summit in Switzerland. According to the chancellor, if countries such as China, Brazil and India call on Russia to withdraw its troops from Ukraine, the chances of a quick peace will increase.
13:51 The SBU reported that it had exposed a network of agents of the 5th service of the FSB of the Russian Federation, who were preparing the murder of Zelensky and other representatives of the highest military-political leadership of the state. The network included two colonels of the State Security Administration. One of the tasks of the intelligence network was to search for executors among the military close to the president’s security who could take the head of state hostage and then kill him. In addition to Zelensky, the Russians planned to eliminate the head of the SBU Vasily Malyuk, the head of the GUR Kirill Budanov and others. For example, Budanov was going to be liquidated before Easter.
The enemy’s plan was this: first, the recruited agent had to observe the movement of the protected person and transmit information to the Russian Federation. It was planned to launch a missile strike at the coordinates of the building where the official was supposed to be located. Then they were going to attack with a drone the people remaining at the site of the defeat. After this, the Russians planned to hit with another missile, including to destroy traces of the drone’s use. The suspect was chosen as a preventive measure - detention. They face life imprisonment.
13:40 Some EU countries oppose the plan to use profits from frozen Russian assets to purchase weapons for Ukraine, Politico writes. According to the publication's sources among European diplomats, countries opposed to military assistance to Kyiv may limit themselves to providing humanitarian assistance to Kyiv.
13:26 The Cabinet of Ministers extended for another month the deferments from conscription for military service during mobilization, granted to those liable for military service by decision of the Ministry of Economy, said the permanent representative of the government in the Verkhovna Rada Taras Melnychuk. According to him, this applies to reservation decisions that have not expired on the day the decision was made.
13:19 In Kiev, at the central railway station, a new information point for recruiting into the Armed Forces of Ukraine has been opened, the Ministry of Defense reported. Information about employment in the Armed Forces will be provided by Ukrzaliznytsia employees.
12:55 The Cabinet of Ministers has updated the border crossing rules for male students under the academic mobility program. To cross the border, you must not be subject to conscription during mobilization; be between 18 and 22 years of age; become a participant in academic mobility for a period of one semester; study full-time; obtain an educational bachelor's degree in any specialty, or a master's degree in medical, pharmaceutical or veterinary fields.
12:14 Putin said in his inaugural speech that Russia “does not refuse dialogue with Western countries, the choice is theirs.”
12:08 Borrell said that after lengthy discussions with EU member states, he had sent messages to them all with his understanding that “the right thing to do would be not to attend” Putin’s inauguration. "My advice was not to do this. I think most member states will not participate," the diplomat said. Borrell recalled that the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Putin and that the elections in Russia were “neither fair nor fair.”
Meanwhile, Putin officially took office as president of Russia - his inauguration ceremony took place in the Kremlin.
11:39 The Verkhovna Rada Committee on National Security approved presidential bills to extend martial law and general mobilization for 90 days - until August 11, 2024. Parliament should approve them at its meeting tomorrow, said People's Deputy Yaroslav Zheleznyak. This will be the 11th decision regarding martial law and general mobilization since the start of a full-scale war.
11:03 Energy workers resumed power supplies to almost all consumers in the Sumy region, which were de-energized after a strike on a high-voltage substation, but on May 6, the enemy struck another facility in the region - the oblenergo substation, the Ministry of Energy reported. As a result, the overhead line and six other substations were disconnected, and household consumers were de-energized. Now 5.4 thousand subscribers remain without electricity in the region - mainly those who were disconnected for a long time due to previous shelling.
10:34 In the Sumy region, as a result of Russian shelling, one person was killed, four were injured, including two young children, the National Police reported. Ten private houses, six apartment buildings, two administrative buildings, energy and critical infrastructure facilities, the property of one of the enterprises, a store and a warehouse were damaged. In addition, the enterprise's hangar was destroyed and a tank with fuel and lubricants caught fire.
10:11 Radio Liberty named the EU countries that will be represented at Putin’s inauguration. There are six such countries: France, Hungary, Slovakia, Greece, Malta and Cyprus. As of evening, Belgium was also on the list, but the country subsequently said it would not send representatives to the Kremlin ceremonies.
09:36 The American Institute for the Study of War (ISW) considers it extremely unlikely that Russia will use tactical nuclear weapons. Experts say the Kremlin is using nuclear threats and diplomatic blackmail to disrupt military support from partners to Ukraine and to frighten Western politicians into preventing Ukrainian troops from using Western-provided systems to attack military targets in Russia.
09:02 In the Donetsk region over the past 24 hours, one person was killed as a result of Russian shelling - in Petrovka. Four more people in the region were injured over the past 24 hours, said the head of the OVA, Vadim Filashkin.
08:57 In the Kherson region over the past 24 hours, as a result of Russian shelling, one person was wounded, two high-rise buildings and 16 private houses were damaged, said the head of the OVA, Alexander Prokudin.
08:50 On the evening of May 6, the Russians hit the KAB on private houses in the village. Borovaya, Izyum district, Kharkov region - three people were wounded, including a 16-year-old teenager, said Oleg Sinegubov, head of the OVA.
08:29 The General Staff announced the estimated losses of the Russian Federation as of the morning of May 7:
- personnel - about 476,460 (+1160) people,
- tanks - 7405 (+25),
- armored combat vehicles - 14,227 (+14),
- artillery systems - 12,287 (+37),
- MLRS - 1057 (+0),
- air defense systems - 792 (+1),
- aircraft - 349 (+0),
- helicopters - 325 (+0),
- UAV of operational-tactical level - 9717 (+34),
- cruise missiles - 2149 (+1),
- ships/boats - 26 (+0),
- submarines - 1 (+0),
- automotive equipment and tank trucks - 16,509 (+32),
- special equipment - 2017 (+9).
07:54 Over the past 24 hours, 97 military clashes took place at the front, the General Staff reported in its morning report. In particular, in the Avdeevsky direction, the Defense Forces repelled 31 attacks in the Novoaleksandrivka, Novopokrovsky, Sokol, Umansky, Yasnobrodovka, Netaylovo and Nevelsky districts of the Donetsk region. Another 17 attacks were repulsed in the Bakhmut direction - in the areas of the settlements of Belogorovka in the Lugansk region, as well as Verkhnekamenskoye, Vyemka, Razdolovka, Novy, Kleshcheevka and Andreevka in the Donetsk region. In addition, the enemy tried 15 times to break through the defenses of Ukrainian troops in the Novopavlovsk direction - in the areas of Krasnohorivka, Paraskoveevka, Konstantinovka, Vodyanoye and Urozhainy, Donetsk region.
In the Kupyansky direction, the Defense Forces repelled 14 attacks in the areas of Sinkovka, Peschany, Berestovo, Kharkov region, and Stelmakhovka, Lugansk region; on Limansky - seven attacks in the areas of Nevsky, Serebryansky forestry in the Lugansk region, Ternov and Yampolevka in the Donetsk region; on Orekhovsky - six attacks in the area of Staromayorsky, Donetsk region and Rabotino, Zaporozhye region; on Kherson - three attacks on the left bank of the Dnieper.
06:13 The American Institute for the Study of War (ISW) confirmed the advance of Russian troops northwest of Svatovo, Lugansk region, southwest of Avdeevka, Donetsk region, in Rabotino, Zaporozhye region, and north of Oleshki, Kherson region. Also, the Russian army continued its offensive on Chasov Yar on May 6, but no changes in the front line were recorded.