Tuesday, May 2

Russia’s war against Ukraine

A Ukrainian serviceman checks his assault rifle during a military exercise in the Kharkiv region on May 1, 2023, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. (Photo by Dimitar Dilkoff/AFP via Getty Images)

Russia launches large-scale missile strike overnight on May 1, injuring at least 34 people. Russia launched another large-scale missile strike against Ukraine overnight on May 1, injuring at least 34 people.

Military: Ukraine launches counterattacks in Bakhmut, Russian forces ‘abandon some positions’. Ukrainian troops launched counterattacks in parts of Bakhmut, leading Russian troops to abandon some positions, Colonel General Oleksandr Syrskyi, commander of Ukraine’s Land Forces and Eastern Operational Command, reported on May 1.

UK Defense Ministry: Russian defensive works suggest ‘deep concern’ over major Ukrainian breakthrough. Russia’s extensive systems of military defensive works suggest “deep concern” over a major Ukrainian breakthrough, the U.K. Defense Ministry reported on May 1.

Infrastructure sabotaged in two Russian regions. Power lines were blown up in Russia’s Leningrad Oblast overnight and a train carrying fuel supplies was derailed in Bryansk Oblast, local officials reported on May 1.

Occupation authorities prepare evacuation plans in Zaporizhzhia Oblast. Evacuation plans are being prepared by Russian authorities in the occupied parts of Zaporizhzhia Oblast, Ukraine’s National Resistance Center reported on May 1.

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ISW: Prigozhin using rehabilitated standing with Russian leadership for self-promotion. Wagner Group financier Yevgeny Prigozhin will likely continue to rely on his existing informational lines of attack to promote himself and seek further privileges from the Russian military as he retains a rehabilitated standing with Russian leadership, the Institute for the Study of War said in its latest update.

Reznikov ‘confident’ that Ukraine will receive modern fighter jets. Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov expressed his confidence that Ukraine would receive fighter jets in a television interview on May 1.

Minister urges Ukrainians in occupied territories to refuse Russian passports contrary to Ombudsman’s advice. “My recommendations to Ukrainians in the temporarily occupied territories remain the same: do not take Russian passports, do not cooperate with the occupiers, leave if possible, wait for the Armed Forces,” Minister for Reintegration of the Temporarily Occupied Territories Iryna Vereshchuk wrote on May 1.

Ukraine seeks to join Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement. President Volodymyr Zelensky has approved the delegation that will participate in negotiations on Ukraine’s accession to the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP).

Read our exclusives

Patriot air defense faces its toughest challenge ever in Ukraine

The wait is over — after almost a year of refusals and hesitation, Western-provided MIM-104 Patriot air defense systems have finally arrived and become operational in Ukraine. On April 21 and 26, Ukraine’s Air Force confirmed the full employment of two Patriot batteries.

Photo: Sean Gallup

Ukraine’s counterattacks in Bakhmut reportedly force Russian troops to abandon some positions

Colonel General Oleksandr Syrskyi, the commander of Ukraine’s Land Forces, said that Ukraine launched counterattacks in Bakhmut, Donetsk Oblast, forcing Russian troops to abandon some positions.

Photo: AFP via Getty Images

Human cost of war

Russia hits Chernihiv Oblast with guided bombs, killing child. Russian troops launched two guided bombs at Chernihiv Oblast’s village of Lyzunivka on May 1, Ukraine’s Northern Operational Command reported. The attack killed a 14-year-old child and injured two more people.

Russian forces attack Kherson Oblast, injuring civilian. The Russian military shelled Kherson city late on May 1, wounding a 30-year-old man, according to Oleksandr Prokudin, the regional governor. Russian troops also launched two guided aerial bombs at the village of Kizomys.

5 injured as Russia attacks Zaporizhzhia, Kharkiv oblasts. Russian forces conducted an air strike on the front-line town of Huliaipole in Zaporizhzhia Oblast on May 1, wounding three civilians, according to the regional prosecutor’s office. Russia also hit two villages in Ukraine’s eastern Kharkiv Oblast, injuring two men.

Update: 2 killed, 40 injured in Russian attack on Pavlohrad. Russian overnight missile strike on Pavlohrad in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast has killed two people and wounded 40 more, President Volodymyr Zelensky said in his May 1 evening address.

Reuters: US believes Russian forces in Ukraine have suffered 100,000 casualties in 5 months. The White House estimated that Russia’s military has suffered 100,000 casualties in the last five months in fighting in Donetsk Oblast’s Bakhmut area and other regions of Ukraine.

CBC: 2 Canadians killed in Bakhmut. Two Canadian nationals have been killed in action around Bakhmut, a city in the eastern Donetsk Oblast that has become the focus of the longest and one of the bloodiest battles since the full-scale invasion began.

General Staff: Russia has lost 190,960 troops in Ukraine since Feb 24, 2022. The General Staff of Ukraine’s Armed Forces reported on May 1 that Russia had lost 190,960 troops in Ukraine since the beginning of its full-scale invasion on Feb. 24 last year. This number includes 450 casualties Russian forces suffered just over the past day.

Opinions and insights

**Anna Myroniuk: Russia’s war has cost me friends, colleagues, loved ones **

The Kyiv Independent’s Head of Investigations Anna Myroniuk shares her grief and the story of her lost friends who died fighting against Russia. She emphasizes why the West should hurry in providing Ukraine with all the weapons and ammunition it needs.

Photo: Anna Myroniuk

Andrii Borovyk: Why Ukrainian cities need to strengthen transparency during the war

“The war has not only affected the work of local self-government but also highlighted previously existing problems – including those related to transparency,” Andrii Borovyk, executive director of Transparency International Ukraine, writes in his op-ed.

Photo: Transparency International Ukraine

International response

Polish president: ‘We will do everything to ensure Ukraine joins EU as soon as possible’. Poland will make every effort during its presidency of the EU Council to ensure Ukraine and Moldova become members of the bloc, Polish President Andrzej Duda said on May 1 during a joint speech with the country’s prime minister.

Media: South Africa trying to convince Putin not to come due to arrest warrant. South African officials are trying to persuade Russian dictator Vladimir Putin not to come to South Africa for a BRICS summit in August due to the International Criminal Court’s warrant for his arrest, South Africa’s Sunday Times reported on April 30.

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Today’s Ukraine Daily was brought to you by Oleg Sukhov, Kate Tsurkan, Teah Pelechaty, Dinara Khalilova, Anastasiya Gordiychuk, Brad LaFoy, and Olena Goncharova.

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