Catching up…
EA Worldview’s Ukraine Up-date- hop over to Scott’s amazing hourly Ukraine up-date page. I’ll fill in with some bits and bobs.
Yuriy Khymych "Over the Dnipro," 1979 Blossoming chestnuts, Kyiv, Dnipro.
Stories we’re following…
Serhii Kruk, Head of the State Emergency Service of Ukraine, on Facebook, reports that six State Emergency Service workers were killed and two injured in a Russian attack on Kherson Oblast on Saturday, 6 May.
Ukrenergo: Russian forces shell power station in Donetsk Oblast for more than 2 hours. Russian forces shelled a power station in Donetsk Oblast for more than two hours on the morning of May 5, Ukraine's state energy operator Ukrenergo reported.
The Russian military is conducting an offensive in the Bakhmut, Avdiiv and Marin directions, and during the day the Armed Forces of Ukraine repelled about 50 attacks, according to the morning summary of the General Staff on May 6.
Dnipropetrovsk Oblast governor: 3 wounded by heavy Russian artillery fire in Nikopol. Russian forces heavily fired at Nikopol with Grad multiple rocket launchers, wounding three civilians, Dnipropetrovsk Oblast Governor Serhii Lysak reported on May 6.
ChP Krym (Emergency Crimea) reports two explosions in Krasnohvardiiskyi district, occupied Crimea. The occupiers reported explosions in Crimea on the morning of Saturday, 6 May; allegedly "the air defence system had been deployed".
Administrators in occupied Zaporizhzhia announce the “relocation” (deportation) of residents from 18 settlements. Evgeny Balitsky, head of the Russian-appointed administration, said that children and their parents, the elderly, and people with disabilities would be “relocated away from enemy fire,” reports Interfax.
Zaluzhnyi calls top US general, discusses counteroffensive. Commander-in-Chief of Ukraine's Armed Forces Valerii Zaluzhnyi said on May 6 he had had a phone call with the Chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley, discussing the front-line situation and upcoming counteroffensive.
CNN: HIMARS become less effective in Ukraine due to Russia's jamming. In recent months, Russia has been blocking the U.S.-provided High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS) used by the Ukrainian army more frequently, making them less effective, CNN reported on May 5, citing people familiar with the matter.
CSD Daily Brief: The Ukrainian Armed Forces should focus on equipping their air defense systems with capabilities to intercept aircraft flying at medium and high altitudes and distances of around 80-90 km, as well as deploying an adequate number of jamming devices for GLONASS and GPS in the tactical zone.
Andrii Yermak, Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine, has reported that 45 Ukrainian defenders (35 soldiers, 10 officers) have been brought back from Russian captivity. All of them are fighters from a regiment of the National Guard that was founded nine years ago on the Azov Sea coast, and were defending Azovstal in Mariupol. Russia, meanwhile, said it had brought back three pilots "following difficult negotiations".
According to Oleksandr Pavlyuk, the First Deputy Minister of Defense of Ukraine, only 10% of the needs of the Armed Forces units and the State Special Transport Service, which are responsible for clearing liberated territories from mines, are met through international aid.
Special Operations Forces (SSO) of Ukraine released a video of the shelling unoccupied areas of Bakhmut with white phosphorus incendiary ammunition on Ukrainian positions by the Russian forces during the early hours of May 6.
Monique: This is pure evil. White phosphorus incendiary bombs produces third-degree burns, sometimes to the bone. Victims of an attack are likely to either die slowly from their burns or inhalation of the toxic fumes.
Russian occupiers in Starobil's'k forcibly evict Ukrainians who refuse to accept Russian passports from their homes. They are thrown into the streets with their belongings, even with children present. After eviction, Ukrainians are sent to filtration camps and their property is stolen—General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
OSCE report: Russia's deportation of Ukrainian children 'may amount' to crime against humanity. "The Mission concluded that numerous and overlapping violations of the rights of the children deported to the Russian Federation have taken place," the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) wrote in its report published on May 4.
The Insider: Leonid Dmitriev, military expert, said that the Russian troops are experiencing a shortage of shells, and may soon be forced to retreat regardless of the demands of Prigozhin, Gerasimov, and Shoigu. Despite Prigozhin's claims, the scarcity the Russian forces are facing is not of shells, but of people. the current lack of shells is a significant challenge for the Russian military. Though stocks are still at around 60% of pre-invasion levels, the problem lies in logistics rather than availability.
The Russian occupying power of Crimea reports that "traffic has been suspended" on the Crimean (Kerchen) bridge, the correspondent of the Radio Liberty Crimea.Realii project told.
An Audi car carrying Zakhar Prilepin, an Ukrainophobe [someone who fears or hates Ukrainians or Ukrainian influence - ed.], writer and member of the A Just Russia – For Truth party, was blown up in the Russian Nizhny Novgorod Oblast as reported by RBC. Prilepin has been seriously wounded, and the driver has been killed. According to the newspaper, Prilepin was returning to Moscow from occupied Donbas.
TASS reports that a "native of Ukraine", previously convicted of robbery, has been detained on suspicion of involvement in blowing up the car of the former militant of the "DPR" group Zakhar Prilepin.
Lviv Oblast is among the leaders among the regions, whose residents took advantage of grants from the "eRobota" state program and created their own small businesses. From February 1 to May 1 this year, a total of 1,240 people in the state received a positive response to the grant to support small business, of which about 180 were from the Lviv region.
On Friday, the Council of the EU decided to allocate 1 billion euros from the European Peace Fund as part of its initiative to provide Ukraine with artillery ammunition.
On Friday, Press office of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Estonia released the following statement:
"Today's meeting with the NATO Secretary General confirmed our readiness to provide practical and political assistance to Ukraine as long as it is needed," he said. The Estonian Foreign Minister emphasised that Estonia's goal is to provide Ukraine with a clear "roadmap" regarding NATO membership at the Vilnius summit in July.
"Just as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy recently wished in Finland, we want Ukraine to become the 33rd full member of the Defence Alliance after Sweden," Tsahkna emphasised, adding that there cannot be grey zones in Europe and that the only guarantee of Ukraine's security is NATO membership.
On May 5, activists of the "Kaputin" association hung a banner in Prague demanding the removal of the Russian Federation from the UN Security Council. "Our goal is to support the petition "Kick Russia out of the UN", which indicates that Russia has not even formally applied for membership in the UN, and therefore we demand the termination of this country's membership. This fact only emphasizes the state of lawlessness, when the country that presides over the Security Council violates the basic norms and conducts an offensive war," says Otakar Van Gemund , one of the organizers of the action .
President's Office: 36 countries in Core Group on Special Tribunal for Russian crime of aggression. Ukraine's Presidential Office deputy head Ihor Zhovkva said on May 5 that 36 countries had already joined the Core Group on the Special Tribunal for the Russian crime of aggression. "And this number literally grows every day, every week."
Switzerland’s parliament has approved a request from Ukrainian authorities for president Zelensky to address it. The invitation, announced in a statement late on Friday, comes amid pressure on Switzerland’s government to break with a centuries-old tradition of neutrality and end a ban of exports of Swiss weapons to conflict zones such as Ukraine. During that session, lawmakers are also set to weigh a motion to provide 5 billion Swiss Francs ($5.6bn) of support to Ukraine over 5-10 years.
Sandu: “We are only safe today thanks to Ukraine”. In an interview with the Financial Times, Moldovan President Maia Sandu said that Russia might have sent its troops into Moldova if its full-scale invasion of Ukraine had gone as planned.
King Charles Coronation
King Charles III and Queen Camilla have been crowned at Westminster Abbey, marking the symbolic beginning of a new royal era in Britain, and a personal fulfilment for a man who has spent more than seven decades in waiting.
In a lavish and archaic ritual not seen in Britain since 1953, the king was anointed with holy oil and swore the oath of kings, before the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, placed St Edward’s Crown on his head, to a cry of “God Save the King!”U.K.
OSCE: Ukrainian Children deported to Russia
"Numerous and overlapping violations of the rights of the children deported to the Russian Federation have taken place. Not only has the Russian Federation manifestly violated the best interests of these children repeatedly, it has also denied their right to identity, their right to family, their right to unite with their family as well as violated their rights to education, access to information, right to rest, leisure, play, recreation and participation in cultural life and arts as well as right to thought, conscience and religion, right to health, and the right to liberty and security," the OSCE Moscow Mechanism mission of experts reported to the OSCE Permanent Council. "Its findings are strong: Russia's actions are called war crimes and crimes against humanity.
"Its findings are strong: Russia's actions are called war crimes and crimes against humanity. I insist that Russia must return our stolen children and be held accountable," Ukraine's Foreign Minister tweeted. Russia has been accused of deporting Ukrainian children under the pretext of "security," subjecting them to temporary stays at camps aimed at indoctrination, and facilitating their adoption by Russian parents. However, experts have found that Russia does not actively promote the return of Ukrainian children, and instead creates obstacles for families seeking to retrieve their children. "Russia's intention is clear. It is attempting to forcibly and permanently alter the demographic makeup of Ukraine," the U.K. acting Ambassador to the OSCE said.
Russian Gold Is in Hands of Obscure Firms as JPMorgan, HSBC Exit- Yahoo News
With Russian gold shut out of Western markets, little-known companies are stepping in to help the country’s bullion find new buyers.
Russian bars became taboo after the invasion of Ukraine, and were blocked by Group of Seven nations and European Union import bans last summer. That created a big headache for Russia’s huge gold industry — its own market can’t absorb the $20 billion of metal mined each year, leaving the central bank or foreign buyers to take the rest. [continue reading]
Meet the Belarusians who tricked Russia into firing on its own men- Politico
The Belarusian volunteers laugh as they tell the story of one of their commanders who deceived the Russians into unleashing artillery salvoes on their own positions near the war-torn salt-mining town of Bakhmut.
“After we overran a trench, the commander used a radio we found, pretended to be Russian and gave false coordinates for a Russian fire mission,” explained Pavel Shurmei, a 46-year-old former Olympic rower who’s been fighting for Ukraine.
“And it worked,” chimed in a 25-year-old volunteer, with a rueful smile.
The Belarusian volunteers are largely seen by their peers as among the most disciplined and lionhearted.
They’ve won battle honors, having in the early weeks after the invasion helped to defend Kyiv and recapture Irpin, a suburban town north of the Ukrainian capital. Irpin, like neighboring Bucha, suffered a reign of terror under Russian occupation. They also fought fearlessly in the battles for Sievierodonetsk and Lysychansk in Donbas last year. [continue reading]
May 7: Sunday Stories