Ukraine Daily

Monday, 2 May 2022

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Russia’s war against Ukraine

Funeral ceremony of a volunteer Ukrainian soldier, who lost his life in Russian attacks, at the Church of the Most Holy Apostles Peter and Paul in Lviv, Ukraine on April 07, 2022. (Getty Images)

Evacuations from Mariupol to resume on May 2. The Ukrainian government will continue to evacuate people from Mariupol on May 2 starting at 7 a.m. local time, the Mariupol City Council said. The evacuation buses will depart from the Port City shopping mall. People can also join the evacuation column from the villages of Mangush and Lunacharske Circle close to Berdyansk.

Russian occupiers resume shelling of Azovstal after about 100 civilians were evacuated on May 1. About 1,000 people are still trapped with Ukrainian soldiers under Mariupol’s metallurgic factory, according to Ukraine’s estimates.

US House of Representatives Speaker visits Kyiv. U.S. Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi has met with President Volodymyr Zelensky during her visit to Ukraine’s capital on May 1.

Russian occupiers abducted deputy in occupied Nova Kakhovka, Kherson Oblast. Ihor Protokovylo was kidnapped from his home on April 19, local authorities reported on May 1.

Explosions heard in Russia’s Belgorod region. Governor of Belgorod Oblast Vyacheslav Gladkov reported early on May 2 that two loud explosions could be heard in the area. According to him, no infrastructure was damaged and there were no casualties. Earlier in the day, fire erupted at military facility in the region, injuring one.

UN: Russian blockade prevents export of 4.5 million tons of Ukrainian wheat. As a result of Russia’s blockade of Ukrainian ports, sea routes cannot be accessed to export Ukrainian grains. Western countries have repeatedly warned of a possible food crisis and famine in a number of countries due to Russia’s war against Ukraine.

General Staff: Russians try to advance in eastern Ukraine, suffer losses. Russian troops continue trying to advance in Kharkiv Oblast, where they fired on Ukrainian forces with mortars. The Ukraine military stopped the Russian advance near Izyum. Russian troops are preparing an assault on Mykolaiv and Kryvyi Rih from the south in an attempt to reach the northern border of Kherson Oblast.

Ukraine destroys 10 Russian Orlan-10 drones. Ukraine’s Armed Forces have reportedly shot down ten Russian UAVs in a single day. The Orlan-10 approximately costs between $87,000 and $120,000 per unit.

Russian forces unsuccessful in advancing to Huliaipole, suffer losses. Zaporizhzhia Regional Military Administration reports on May 1 that Russia’s attempts to advance in Zaporizhzhia region have failed. Russian forces shelled civilian areas in Orikhove resulting in two killed and four injured.

BBC: Russian troops kidnap, mutilate Ukrainian lab assistant. The 31-year-old lab assistant at a Kyiv city hospital was reportedly taken 600 kilometers northeast of Kyiv to a detention center in Kursk, Russia where he was repeatedly beaten up. The man also suffered frostbite and had his toes amputated. Ukrainian ombudsman Lyudmyla Denisova confirmed on May 1 that Ukrainians who have returned from Russian captivity reported poor treatment and had signs of physical abuse.

9,158 war crime investigations opened against Russian occupiers. Ten Russians involved in war crimes in Bucha and 15 in the Kyiv Oblast have already been identified, Prosecutor General Iryna Venediktova said on May 1. Cases were also opened against 620 top-level Russian officials, who will be prosecuted in absentia, Venediktova said.

Justice Ministry: Real estate operations resume in Ukraine. The state registration of property rights reopened on April 28, allowing Ukrainians to buy and sell property with a number of restrictions, the ministry said. State registration was suspended when Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24.

Ukrainian intelligence: Russian troops steal, destroy medical equipment in occupied areas. Specifically, Russian troops have stolen all equipment from the infectious disease unit of a hospital in the city of Starobilsk, Luhansk Oblast, Defense Ministry’s Intelligence Directorate reported on May 1. The new equipment was donated by international organizations after 2014.

CNN: Nearly $5 million worth of farming equipment stolen by Russian troops from Melitopol. According to a Ukrainian businessman from the city interviewed by the CNN, Russian forces have shipped numerous farming vehicles to Russia’s republic of Chechnya, however the equipment has been remotely disabled, rendering it unusable. The equipment now appears to be languishing at a farm near Grozny.

SBU: Russia planned a terrorist attack to blame on Ukraine. The Security Service reported on May 1 that they neutralized Russia’s sabotage reconnaissance group that had been planning to shoot down a passenger plane over Russia or Belarus with a US-developed Stinger air-defense system and blame it on Ukraine and its allies.

Ukrainian ambassador asks Germany to pass lend-lease law. Andriy Melnyk, Ukraine’s ambassador to Germany, has suggested in an interview with Bild am Sonntag that Germany should adopt a law to aid Ukraine similar to the lend-lease act passed by the U.S. Congress on April 29. He also asked Germany to quickly export 88 Leopard tanks, 100 Marder armored vehicles, and self-propelled howitzers to Ukraine.

South Korean embassy staff return to Kyiv. South Korea’s Ambassador to Ukraine Kim Jyung-tae as well as some embassy staff have returned to Kyiv to restart operations there, according to Seoul’s Foreign Ministry. The ministry also said it is considering a phased return of the remaining staff.

Read our exclusive, on the ground stories

Russia’s war has already killed up to 3,000 Ukrainian soldiers, President Volodymyr Zelensky estimated in an interview with CNN on April 15. Around 10,000 Ukrainian troops have been injured, and it’s “hard to say how many will survive,” he said. The Kyiv Independent talked to families of Ukraine’s fallen defenders. Read our story here.

The human cost of Russia’s war

Russian shelling kills 4, injures 11 in Donetsk Oblast on May 1. Pavlo Kyrylenko, the governor of Donetsk Oblast, reminded that any reports about victims in Donetsk Oblast don’t include the many casualties in Mariupol and Volnovakha, where Ukrainian authorities don’t have access.

3 civilians killed, 8 wounded by Russian shelling in Kharkiv Oblast on May 1. Russian shelling intensified in Kharkiv and Kharkiv Oblast, targeting residential areas, according to Oleh Synehubov, head of Kharkiv Regional State Administration. The shelling destroyed four houses and damaged six others as well as a church in Zolochiv, a settlement northeast of Kharkiv.

International response

US Congressman calls on troop deployment in Ukraine if Putin uses chemical, biological, or nuclear weapons. Republican Congressman Adam Kinzinger introduced a resolution on May 1 to authorize U.S. President Joe Biden to send troops to Ukraine in such cases.

Reuters: Russian oligarchs to be targeted in US $33 billion aid package for Ukraine. U.S. Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said he would add provisions to a $33 billion Ukraine aid package to allow the U.S. to seize Russian oligarchs’ assets and send money from their sale directly to Ukraine.

Moldova says Russian hackers attacked its sites. Russia’s Killnet hacking group has organized DDoS attacks on Moldovan government websites, Moldova’s Intelligence and Security Service said on May 1. Several explosions were recently reported in Moldova’s Russian-occupied Transnistria region.

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Today’s Ukraine Daily was brought to you by Alexander Query, Oleg Sukhov, Daria Shulzhenko, Sergiy Slipchenko, Olena Goncharova, Oleksiy Sorokin, Olga Rudenko, Toma Istomina, Lili Bivings and Brad LaFoy.

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