Thursday, May 9

Russia’s war against Ukraine

A dog is resting on the landing of a flight of stairs at a garage cooperative in Zaporizhzhia on May 8, 2024, after a massive Russian missile and drone attack occurred at night. (Ukrinform/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

Ukrenergo: Imported energy won’t fully cover deficit after latest Russian attack. Speaking to Ukrainska Pravda.Live, Volodymyr Kudrytskyi, said the damage caused by the strikes was “quite large-scale.”

Ukrainian Defense Industry: Kyiv catches up with Russia in Shahed drone analog production. Ukraine has caught up with Russia in the production of domestically-made kamikaze drones similar to Iranian-designed Shahed-131/136, Herman Smetanin, the head of the state-owned Ukrainian Defense Industry company, said in an interview with ArmyInform published on May 8.

Austin: Too early to see effects of US aid on Ukraine’s front lines. It is still “very early on” to see improvements on the frontline after the first batch of U.S. weapons started flowing to Ukraine, U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin told senators on May 8.

Governor: Chasiv Yar ‘almost destroyed’ but 679 people still live there. Vadym Filashkin said it was becoming increasingly difficult for rescue and humanitarian workers to reach those that remain due to Russian shelling, with attempts only being made at night or early in the morning.

Governor: Russian forces forming grouping north of Kharkiv. The authorities are “closely monitoring” the northern direction, as Russian troops have resumed active assault operations east of Kharkiv after military units’ rotation, Governor Oleh Syniehubov said.

NATO military chair: ‘It’s not too late for Ukraine,’ Russia’s progress limited. Lieutenant Admiral Rob Bauer, Chair of the NATO Military Committee, said the most important thing now was that members of the military alliance continue to send aid.

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Parliament approves extension of martial law. Under martial law, Ukrainian men aged between 18 and 60, with some exceptions, are not allowed to leave the country as they may be called up for military service.

Investigation reveals that almost 11,000 criminal cases have been halted because defendants volunteered to fight. According to the investigation, the most common cases halted by courts were theft, car accidents involving criminal misconduct, and drug trafficking.

Parliament passes bill allowing citizens convicted of minor offenses to serve in military. Ukraine’s parliament, the Verkhovna Rada, passed in the second and final reading on May 8 a bill permitting military service of citizens convicted of minor offenses, said lawmaker Oleksii Honcharenko, one of the bill’s authors.

Governor: Fire at oil depot in Russian-occupied Luhansk causes serious damage. An oil depot in the Russian-occupied city of Luhansk was heavily damaged in a fire that Russian proxies claim was the result of a Ukrainian strike, Luhansk Oblast Governor Artem Lysohor said on May 8.

Media: Investigation shows Russian forces may use satellite systems made in Ukraine. About 22,000 Gilat SkyEdge internet communications systems, valued at $5 million, were imported to Russia in 2023. The systems were manufactured at a facility in Uzhhorod, Ukraine.

Military: Russian assault groups break into Krasnohorivka, blocked at local plant. Small Russian assault groups broke into the town of Krasnohorivka in Donetsk Oblast, but their advance was blocked at a local plant, Nazar Voloshyn, the spokesperson of the Khortytsia group of forces, told Army TV on May 8.

Read our exclusives

Never again? Again: A visual story compares photos from World War II with Russia’s invasion

During Operation Barbarossa, the German invasion of the Soviet Union, Nazi forces occupied much of Soviet Ukraine, executing civilians, and destroying cultural heritage and infrastructure. The same Ukrainian regions and cities that were once invaded by Nazis are now suffering from Russian attacks and deliberate killings.

Photos (L-R): Galerie Bilderwelt, Nathan Laine/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Ukraine is facing a cement crisis: Could a deal between two cement giants worsen the situation?

Ukraine will need to produce 15-16 million metric tons of cement annually over a three-year reconstruction phase. That’s around 2-3 million more than the 8 operating plants can currently handle. Amid this looming crisis, some are sounding the alarm that a deal in Ukraine between two multinational cement giants could create a monopoly in the country.

Photo: Elizabeth Servatynska/Suspilne Ukraine/JSC “UA:PBC”/Global Images Ukraine via Getty Images

Human cost of war

Russian attacks on Kherson Oblast kill 1, injure 3. Russian forces attacked the village of Bilozerka and the city of Kherson on May 8, local governor Oleksandr Prokudin reported.

Death toll of Russia’s April 29 strike on Odesa rises to 7. The death toll of a Russian missile attack against Odesa on April 29 has risen to seven as an injured man died in the hospital, the Odesa city council reported on May 8.

Journalist-turned-soldier Oleksandr Mashlay killed in action near Avdiivka. Oleksandr Mashlay was killed on a combat mission in the Avdiivka direction on May 7, the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Freedom of Speech said in a post on Facebook.

General Staff: Russia has lost 477,430 troops in Ukraine since Feb. 24, 2022. This number includes 970 casualties Russian forces suffered over the past day.

International response

EU ambassadors agree on using Russian assets revenue to fund Ukraine. EU ambassadors agreed in principle on a measure using profits from frozen Russian assets to support Ukraine’s recovery and military needs, the Belgian Presidency of the EU said on May 8.

US State Department: US preparing more aid packages for Ukraine. “We are working on other packages. I think you can expect to see us get back to the kind of tempo that we were at before we had this break in funding,” U.S. State Department Spokesperson Matthew Miller told reporters.

Zelensky says Cape Verde is first African country to agree to join peace summit. President Volodymyr Zelensky said he spoke with Cape Verdean Prime Minister Ulisses Correia e Silva on the phone and “thanked him for his support for the peace formula and his personal principled position on the Russian invasion.”

UK to expel Russian defense attache for being ‘undeclared military intelligence officer.’ The U.K. is to expel a Russian defense attache, saying they are an “undeclared military intelligence officer,” British Home Secretary James Cleverly said on May 8.

India arrests 4 suspected of luring men to fight for Russia in Ukraine. Four people were arrested in India on suspicions of tricking Indian men into traveling to Russia for lucrative jobs only to be forced to serve in the military, the country’s law enforcement agency said on May 7.

Hungary’s FM opposes NATO’s long-term Ukraine aid plan, calls it ‘crazy mission.’ Budapest will not participate in NATO’s long-term plan to support Ukraine, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said on May 8, calling it a “crazy mission,” according to Reuters.

FM: Kosovo supports Ukraine despite Kyiv not recognizing its independence. In an interview with AP, Donika Gervalla-Schwarz said her country is convinced that Russia must lose the war in order to ensure the security of Europe.

Slovak president suggests hosting potential Ukraine-Russia peace talks in Bratislava. “Let’s talk about a ceasefire, about peace scenarios, let’s mobilize diplomacy and approach weapons as a last resort,” Slovak President Peter Pellegrini said without elaborating on concrete steps.

In other news

Prosecutor’s Office: Ukrainian oligarch Kolomoisky suspected of ordering murder of lawyer in 2003. Jailed Ukrainian oligarch Ihor Kolomoisky is suspected of ordering the murder of the head of a law firm more than 20 years ago in Crimea, the Prosecutor General’s Office reported on May 8.

Ukraine marks first ‘Day of Remembrance and Victory over Nazism’ in WWII since official date change in 2023. President Volodymyr Zelensky signed a law in 2023 officially changing the date of Ukraine’s World War II commemoration to May 8, aligning it with most of Europe and indicating a full break from the Soviet-era holiday.

Armenia refuses to finance Russian-led CSTO security alliance. In recent months, Armenia has taken an increasingly belligerent stance towards Moscow and, in March, threatened to leave if the military alliance fails to address Armenia’s collective security concerns.

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Today’s Ukraine Daily was brought to you by Kateryna Hodunova, Lili Bivings, Martin Fornusek, Chris York, Nate Ostiller, Katya Denisova, Abbey Fenbert, and Olena Goncharova.

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