Ukraine Daily

Thursday, 5 May 2022

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Russia’s war against Ukraine

Members of the public take the knee as the coffin arrives ahead the funeral service of fallen soldier Lubomyr Tazaev, aged 36, at the Saint’s Peter and Paul Garrison Church on April 29, 2022 in Lviv, Ukraine. Lviv has served as a stopover and shelter for the millions of Ukrainians fleeing the Russian invasion, either to the safety of nearby countries or the relative security of western Ukraine. (Getty Images)

Russia claims it will release civilians from Azovstal starting May 5. Russia’s Defense Ministry announced on May 4 that it will permit the evacuation of civilians from the Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol from 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. Moscow time on May 5, 6, and 7. No mention was made of Ukrainian military personnel also trapped in the plant and Ukrainian authorities have yet to respond to the announcement.

Azov commander says Russian troops broke into Azovstal. After two days of being unable to contact anyone outside Mariupol, Denys Prokopenko, commander of the Azov volunteer regiment, said that “bloody fighting” is going on at the highly fortified Azovstal steel plant in the Donetsk Oblast city. Azovstal is the only pocket of Ukrainian resistance remaining in Mariupol, which has been besieged by Russian troops since February.

Ukraine downs nine Russian aerial targets. Ukraine’s General Staff reported on May 5 that Russia lost four UAVs, three missiles and two planes (preliminary Su-30 aircraft) over the past 24 hours. Ukrainian forces also repelled 11 Russian attacks in the Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts and liberated a few settlements on the border of Mykolaiv and Kherson regions.

Kremlin spokesman: War declaration on May 9 ‘nonsense.’ Kremlin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov dismissed reports that Russia could officially declare war against Ukraine and start a national mobilization on May 9, when Russia celebrates the Soviet Union’s victory in World War II.

Official says 344 people evacuated from Mariupol and towns in Zaporizhzhia Oblast on May 4. Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said that all the evacuees – women, children and the elderly – have just arrived in the city of Zaporizhzhia.

New York Times: US intelligence helps Ukraine kill Russian generals. Senior U.S. officials said that the U.S. has provided intelligence about Russian units that has allowed Ukrainian forces to target and kill Russian generals on the frontlines. Ukraine’s military has reportedly killed 12 Russian generals thus far, although U.S. officials declined to confirm the numbers. This assistance is part of a classified effort by the Biden administration to provide real-time battlefield intelligence to Ukraine.

CNN: 90% of howitzers pledged by US arrive in Ukraine. According to a senior defense official on May 4, nearly 90,000 of the 144,000 pledged projectile ammunition to pair with the 90 howitzers have also arrived. However, the official noted that the U.S. does not track the whereabouts of the weapons once they arrive in Ukraine.

Russia boycotts UN Security Council meeting due to ‘Russophobic policies.’ Russia’s UN representative Dmitry Polyanskiy cited the alleged “warmongering” and “Russophobic policies” of EU leadership as the reason for the decision. Polyanskiy said that the EU was “actively trying to extinguish the fire of the Ukrainian crisis by pouring gasoline on it.”

Pentagon: Russian airstrikes fail to interfere with US arms transfers to Ukraine. Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said on May 5 that Russian forces aimed at “critical infrastructure targets” in western Ukraine, including power facilities and transportation hubs. Kirby emphasized that the U.S. and other Western allies are still able to transport the necessary aid to Ukraine, CNN reports.

Russian missile hits infrastructure in Kirovohrad Oblast. The information on casualties and the damage to the infrastructure will be announced later, regional Governor Andriy Raikovych said.

Ukrainian air defense shoots down Russian missile in Kyiv Oblast. The remnants of the missile fell in a field near the village of Trebukhiv, said Ihor Sapozhko, the mayor of the nearby city of Brovary. No one was injured, and no buildings were damaged.

Russian missiles hit central Dnipro. A railroad infrastructure site had been targeted in the city, according to the Ukrainian Railways company.

Russian airstrikes target Donetsk Oblast’s Kramatorsk, injure 6 people. Kramatorsk Mayor Oleksandr Honcharenko reported that Russian airstrikes hit residential areas in the city overnight on May 5, damaging at least three high-rises, a school and a kindergarten. According to the mayor, at least six people were injured in the attack.

Lviv mayor plans to nationalize Russian-owned bus plant. The Lviv Bus Plant, also known as LAZ, is controlled by the brothers Oleg and Igor Churkin. Mayor Andriy Sadovy aims to attract Western investors to produce electric vehicles at the site of the plant. In total, the city has some 80 businesses fully or partially owned by Russians. All these businesses should be nationalized, Sadovy said.

100,000 square meters of housing to be built for IDPs in Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast. The apartments will be state-owned, and provided with furniture, Svitlana Onyschuk, the head of Ivano-Frankivsk Regional Administration said on May 4.

State Border Service: Ukraine ready if Belarus joins Russia’s war. Belarus said it has begun large-scale drills on May 4 to test its combat readiness, while local residents reported spotting columns of military vehicles moving in the direction of Ukraine and Lithuania.

Mobile service restored in Russian-occupied Kherson. Ministry of Digital Transformation announced on May 4 that Ukrainian mobile carriers Lifecell and Kyivstar had restored the infrastructure damaged by shelling. Ukrainian operators’ networks had been down in Kherson since April 30.

3 people injured by Russian mines in Kyiv Oblast in 24 hours. Kyiv Oblast’s Police Chief Andriy Nebytov urged residents to avoid forest roads, field paths and roadsides in areas previously under Russia’s occupation.

General Staff: 3 Russian missile carriers currently in Black Sea, ready to strike at Ukraine. The Russian fleet continues to block Ukrainian coastal areas and conduct reconnaissance. There are three ships carrying 3M-54 Kalibr missiles.

Governor: Russian occupiers took three-year stock of grain out of Luhansk Oblast. In total, 100,000 tons of grain have been either moved out of the war-torn region or destroyed, the regional administration said. Lugansk Oblast is currently the only region of Ukraine where the sowing season has not started yet. It put the local people at risk of famine, the administration said.

Read our exclusive, on the ground stories

Members of the Ukrainian government have repeatedly questioned the ICRC’s commitment to helping Ukrainian civilians, citing the organization’s close cooperation with Russian authorities and a lack of communication with Ukrainian ones. The Kyiv Independent looked closer at the ICRC’s work in Ukraine. Read our story here.

After Ukraine ended 2021 with a historically high gross domestic product (GDP) of $195 billion, top officials issued optimistic forecasts for the coming year. Then the war began, killing all of the country’s economic plans. Read our story on how Russia’s war may halve Ukraine’s economy.

The human cost of Russia’s war

Ukrainian journalist Oleksandr Makhov killed by Russian shelling. Makhov, a veteran and esteemed war reporter, joined Ukraine’s Armed Forces when Russia began its invasion in February. He was killed near Izium, Kharkiv Oblast on May 4. Makhov was a reporter for Ukrainian TV channels Dom and Ukraina. President Volodymyr Zelensky expressed his condolences in a televised address: “Eternal memory to him and all our heroes who gave their lives for Ukraine.”

Prosecutor General’s Office: Russia’s war kills at least 221 children, injures more than 408. The figures are expected to be higher as they do not include child casualties in areas where hostilities are ongoing and in temporarily occupied or recently liberated areas.

Associated Press: 600 civilians killed by Russian airstrike in Mariupol drama theater. An investigation by Associated Press shows that the March 16 airstrike that destroyed the Mariupol theater killed over half of the 1,000 civilians who used it as a shelter. The investigation also shows that there was no Ukrainian military in the theater, a pretext used by Russia to justify its airstrike.

One person killed, one child injured on May 4 by Russian shelling in Kharkiv Oblast. According to the regional military administration, heavy fighting continues near Izyum, a city of 45,000 people located between Kharkiv and Russian-occupied Luhansk.

International response

Canadian embassy to return to Ukraine. Canada’s Foreign Minister Melanie Jolie told Ukrinform news agency on May 5 that Canada’s ambassador to Ukraine, Larisa Galadza, will relocate from Poland to Ukraine. “Our goal is to restore our diplomatic presence in Ukraine,” Jolie stated.

Netherlands may supply more heavy weapons to Ukraine. Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said the country is evaluating whether it can join Germany, Belgium and the U.K. to supply more heavy weapons to Ukraine. With this move, “the Netherlands will continue to support Ukraine’s fight to defend democracy and sovereignty, in the short and long term,” said Rutte.

Austrian minister: No fast-track EU procedure for Ukraine. Austria’s EU and Constitutional Affairs Minister Karoline Edtstadler said Ukraine’s accession to the EU cannot be achieved “in the next five to ten years.” She added that “you might also have to be creative in how you introduce Ukraine to Western values.”

Bulgaria will be repairing Ukrainian defense equipment. The Bulgarian parliament approved a package that includes humanitarian, financial and military aid to Ukraine. While the country won’t provide arms to Ukraine, it agreed to help by repairing Ukraine’s military equipment.

Bloomberg: Germany ready to support Russian oil embargo. Germany supported a European Commission proposal to impose an import ban on Russian oil. “The transition period is sufficiently long that we can take all precautions to create alternatives to Russian oil in Germany,” Economy Minister Robert Habeck said.

Bloomberg: EU plans to block Russians from buying real estate. The European Union added a ban on property transactions with Russian nationals to its sixth package of sanctions, according to Bloomberg.

UK cuts Russia off its from consulting, PR, accounting companies. The ban will cut off service exports critical to the Russian economy, Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said on May 4. U.K.’s accountancy, management consultancy and PR services account for 10% of Russian imports in these sectors.

Bloomberg: Hungary objects to Russian oil phaseout. The EU proposed on May 4 a gradual ban on Russian oil and oil products export as part of the sixth package of sanctions against Russia. Hungary voiced objections as the measures “would threaten Hungary’s energy security,” the spokesman for Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s government said.

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Today’s Ukraine Daily was brought to you by Alexander Query, Thaisa Semenova, Natalia Datskevych, Lucy Minicozzi-Wheeland, Oleg Sukhov, Teah Pelechaty, Olena Goncharova, Oleksiy Sorokin, Olga Rudenko, Lili Bivings and Brad LaFoy.

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