Russia has launched a new wave of attacks in kyiv and across Ukraine, causing widespread destruction and injuries, as it prepares for Victory Day marking the anniversary of the defeat of Nazi Germany.
The mayor of the Ukrainian capital reported that at least five people were injured, three by explosions in the Solomyansky district and two by debris from unmanned aerial vehicles in Siatoshin.
Local authorities said debris hit an apartment building, a runway at Zhuliany airport and possibly a car, which caught fire.
Witnesses told Reuters they heard several explosions in kyiv overnight, while local officials said air defenses were repelling the new attack.
At least one explosion was heard during a missile attack on Odessa, a strategic Ukraine port on the Black Sea, an official said. An “enemy missile attack” was carried out, said Serhiy Brachuk of the military command in Odessa. He added that the target was a food warehouse, among others, and posted photos of a burning building.
Air-raid alarms sounded for hours in about two-thirds of the country. Ukrainian media also reported explosions in Kherson (south) and Zaporizhia (southeast). Vladimir Rogov, an official posted by Moscow in Zaporizhia, said a warehouse and Ukrainian army positions in Ornihiv, a small town in the region, were shelled. At the same time, the Sumi (northeast) regional military command spoke of shelling in eight places by Russian artillery.
At the same time, a senior Ukrainian army officer, Oleksandr Shirsky, said that Russian forces are intensifying their efforts to seize control of Bakhmut, where fighting has been raging since summer 2022, until tomorrow, Tuesday May 9. , stressing that Kiev will do everything possible to prevent this development, which he described as “our duty”.
The head of the Wagner mercenary company, Yevgeny Prigozhin, claims that 95% of Bakhmut is in the hands of Russian forces. Yesterday he withdrew his threat to remove his “musicians” from the city, once home to 70,000 people but now in ruins.
On the other hand, Ukrainian attacks against fuel storage facilities, infrastructure and other targets on Russian territory or Russian-controlled Ukrainian territories, especially on the Crimean peninsula, have also increased in recent years. kyiv, without confirming or denying that it launched the attacks, says the destruction of infrastructure is the prelude to a long-awaited counter-offensive to retake territory.
Mass withdrawal of civilians from areas around Zaporizhzhya
Meanwhile, a total of 1,679 civilians, including 660 children, have been evacuated from areas around the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant, a Russia-based official said in parts of the Ukrainian region of the same name controlled by Moscow forces. .
On Saturday, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Raphael Grossi, warned that the situation around the plant was becoming “potentially dangerous” as Moscow-based authorities in Zaporizhia began hastily evacuating the people.
Ukraine’s military is expected to soon launch its much-discussed counter-offensive to retake territory held by Russian forces, including in Zaporizhia.
Yevgeny Balitsky, the governor who installed the Kremlin in the parts of the region controlled by Russian troops, said via Telegram that people who were hastily evacuated were taken “to a temporary accommodation center for residents of front-line areas, in Berdyansk”. which also belongs to the Zaporizhia region.
The United States. Prepare sanctions on Chinese companies
On the sanctions front, the European Union is considering a proposal to attack Chinese companies accused of supplying Russia with weapons-grade material for use in the war in Ukraine, according to the Financial Times.
The US newspaper, citing a European document, wrote that seven Chinese companies are named in the new set of sanctions, which will be discussed by EU member states. within the week. According to the publication, the list includes two companies based in mainland China (3HC Semiconductors, King-Pai Technology) and another five based in Hong Kong (Sinno Electronics, Sigma Technology, Asia Pacific Links, Tordan Industry, Alpha Trading Investments).
Some companies, notably King-Pai Technology, are already facing US sanctions, which accuses them of supplying equipment to entities in the Russian military-industrial complex.
The United States. it has imposed ten packages of sanctions against natural and legal persons in Russia since the beginning of the war.