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Everyone is waiting for May 9
“Victory Day” on May 9 in Ukraine is taken as seriously as possible in terms of military aggression by Russia. Two weeks before the important date for Russian society, information began to appear that it was on May 9 that Russia was preparing mass shelling of Ukrainian cities “for a picture.” In some Ukrainian cities, a long curfew of 36 hours is imposed to avoid casualties. Mayors, military regional administrations, and even President Zelenskiy are urging Ukrainians on May 8 and 9 to take air strikes especially seriously – everyone is waiting for shelling.
The possibility of shelling was in fact confirmed by the Russian Defense Ministry. The Coordination Center said that Ukraine was preparing provocations for these dates and would fire on its own areas in the west of the country to discredit the Russian government. In particular, it is planned to use “Point-U” missiles in Lviv and Volyn regions, in crowded places. Representatives of the Russian Federation give the example of the strike on the railway station in Kramatorsk.
Similar statements are in favor of Russian propaganda: Ukraine, like Russia, does have Point-U missiles, which adds work to identify those who start shelling. However, this is a typical scheme for Russia – it announces shelling of the Ukrainian side or some objects and then carries them out itself. The two biggest examples are the shelling of Donetsk and the maternity hospital in Mariupol.
In addition, Ukraine suspects that Russia will try to prepare for a large-scale operation on May 9 by choosing this symbolic date. One option is to escalate the situation near Transnistria. According to the General Staff of Ukraine, the situation in the Bessarabian direction remains difficult, and the armed groups of the Transnistrian region are in full combat readiness. Escalation on May 9 sounds very realistic: Russian army plans to make the land border to the unrecognized republic, capturing Odessa, a city that has been under fire almost every day for the past week.
Airstrike, missile and MRL damage
Kharkiv region:
- As a result of shelling by Russian troops a fire broke out in a non-residential building and 4 trucks. Neighboring houses and 9 more cars belonging to a local entrepreneur were also damaged.
- Russian troops carried out 2 attacks on the territory of the city near the railway station. As a result, a critical infrastructure facility was damaged, as well as nearby houses and cars.
- Russian troops shelled the areas of Saltivka, Oleksiyivka, Pyatykhatky and Velyka Danylivka. One of the city’s schools was damaged. 4 people were injured.
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Zaporizhzhya region:
- As a result of the shelling, the hospital building and the student hostel were damaged. Also, 2 private houses were destroyed, 3 more houses, an apartment, a kindergarten, a shop, a service station, a tractor and a car were damaged. In addition, the gas pipeline was damaged, the city’s gas supply was disrupted.
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Luhansk region:
- The Russian Federation troops shelled the buildings of the school and the house of culture, as a result, the buildings caught fire and collapsed. There were 90 civilians in the school bomb shelter. It is known about 30 people being rescued, among whom 7 people were wounded. Bodies of 2 dead people have been found. Presumably, 60 people who remain under the rubble of the building got killed (1, 2).
- During the day, the Russian army shelled 25 settlements in the region. Residential buildings were destroyed in Severodonetsk and Rubizhne.
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Poltava region:
- Russian troops attacked an infrastructure facility in Karlivka, and a fire broke out. Neighboring houses were damaged by the blast wave. According to the statement of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, the strike was carried out on the outskirts of the city’s railway station.
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Odessa region:
- Russian troops attacked the territory of the city. As a result, infrastructure facilities were damaged, in some areas of the city there were interruptions in the supply of electricity and water. According to the statement of the Russian Federation Ministry of Defense, the strike was carried out on a military airfield.
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Sumy region:
- Russian troops carried out strikes on the territory of the communities twice from the territory of the Russian Federation. As a result of shelling of the border service department “Yunakivka”, part of the forest belt was destroyed, and a border guard was wounded. The shelling was confirmed by the Russian Federation Governor of Kursk Oblast Roman Starovoyt.
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Mykolaiv region:
- Russian troops carried out strikes on the region, in Voznesensk district four explosions were recorded, the consequences are being specified. According to the statement of the Russian Federation Ministry of Defense, they attacked a military airfield in Voznesensk. According to eyewitnesses, cluster munitions were used. Residential areas of Ochakiv were also shelled. In total, 27 people were injured in the region during the day.
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Donetsk region:
- As a result of the strike by Russian troops, 25 houses, a cultural center were damaged, a shop, a service station and a hangar of a machine-building plant were destroyed. 2 people were injured.
- As a result of shelling by Russian troops 7 residential buildings, a store and club were damaged. 2 people were injured.
- As a result of the strike by Russian troops, 2 private houses were completely destroyed, 11 houses and several private enterprises were damaged.
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Kherson region:
- As a result of the shelling by Russian troops, 3 residential buildings were destroyed, another 35 houses and a gas main were also damaged. The energy and gas supply of the city was disrupted. 4 people were injured.
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Dnipropetrovsk region:
- During the day, Russian troops shelled the settlements of the region.
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New laws
Ukraine:
- [War] The Cabinet of Ministers allocated an additional UAH 359m for the purchase, modernization and repair of military equipment for the needs of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
- [War] The law, which exempts from taxes remuneration for the serviceable enemy military equipment transferred to the Armed Forces of Ukraine, has come into force. Law No. 2214-IX is published in the official press.
- [War] President Volodymyr Zelensky formed the Tokmak city military administration (Zaporizhzhya region). The head of state also appointed its leader.
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Russia:
- [War] The head of Roskosmos, Dmitry Rogozin, said that the state corporation had begun conducting mobilization training to speed up the production of military products.
- [Other] The authorities of the Krasnoyarsk Territory have introduced a state of emergency in the region against the backdrop of massive fires, the Civil Defense and Emergency Situations Agency for the region reported on Saturday.
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This was the free part of the military brief
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In a paid version:
- Airstrike, missile and MLRS damage
- Civilian casualties
- Video of russian prisoners
- New laws
- Occupant’s casualties (est. from Ukrainian General Staff)
- War crimes in a de-ocupied territories
- Alternative loss estimates
- Data archive.
- Analytical charts: occupant losses, chart with known air raid alerts by region and known damage, diagram of known airstrike, missile and MRL damage and known child deaths, diagram of known damage for Ukrainian infrastructure, diagram of average duration of the air alerts in the regions.
