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☆ A Ukrainian donation drive built an 'Army of Drones' and picked up an unusual system called a 'Shahed Hunter' for Kyiv's forces
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-10 | by ( Jake Epstein | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

It has used the funds to purchase thousands of UAVs, and systems to hunt Russian drones. The Shahed Hunter system is a network of radars and signal jammers that can detect Russian drones from around 25 miles away, Fedorov said. It's unclear where, exactly, the Shahed Hunter systems have been used or how many times they have been deployed. But Fedorov noted that Ukraine needs more of the systems to defend against continuous waves of Russian drone attacks. On Sunday night alone, Ukraine's air defense systems shot down 35 drones — 30 of which targeted Kyiv, according to the country's defense ministry.

☆ ‘Death Is Everywhere’ in a Once-Jubilant Ukrainian City
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-10 | by ( Jeffrey Gettleman | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

The road to Kherson is long, straight and empty. Entering town from the west, you pass the ATB supermarket, one of the mainstays of the city’s shopping. It was blown up a few weeks ago, in the middle of the day, with shoppers inside. “Death is everywhere,” said Halyna Luhova, Kherson’s deputy mayor. People have been killed waiting for the bus, waiting for the train, walking to work and in their sleep.

☆ Ukraine war live updates: Russia's Victory Day military parade overshadowed by security fears; Kyiv targeted again overnight
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-09 | by ( Holly Ellyatt | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Russian soldiers march during a rehearsal of the Victory Day military parade in Moscow, Russia, on May 7, 2023. All eyes are on Russia's Victory Day parade on Tuesday, an annual event marking the Soviet Union's victory over Nazi Germany in 1945. This year is expected to be a smaller affair, however, with the ongoing war in Ukraine involving much of Russia's military personnel and hardware. Victory Day parades have been canceled in a number of places in Russia. Russia has launched a wave of attacks on Ukrainian cities Kyiv, Odesa and Kherson in the last few days.

☆ Russia's war on Ukraine latest: Ukraine says defence systems repel Russian attacks
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-09 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

May 9 (Reuters) - Ukraine's air defence systems are repelling Russian attacks on the capital, Kyiv's military administration said early on Tuesday, following air raid alerts nationwide. * Russia celebrates the World War Two anniversary of victory over Nazi Germany, with a parade in Red Square amid tight security after a string of drone attacks, including on the Kremlin citadel, that Russia blamed on Ukraine. * The United States plans as soon as Tuesday to announce a new $1.2 billion military aid package for Ukraine that will include air defense systems, ammunition and funds for training, a U.S. official said. * Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said he will lay out the need to defend Ukraine in the war with Russia when he meets Brazilian President Luis Inacio Lula da Silva, who has been critical of arming the Ukrainians. * Ukrainian forces shelled the Belgorod region on Russia's border with Ukraine on Monday, injuring at least five people and damaging houses and power lines, the region's governor said.

☆ An A.F.P. journalist was killed by rocket fire near the intense fighting in the area around Bakhmut.
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-09 | by ( Anushka Patil | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

A video journalist working for Agence France-Presse, the French news agency, was killed by rocket fire near the town of Chasiv Yar in eastern Ukraine, A.F.P. Some of the heaviest battles of the war are being fought in and around the nearby city of Bakhmut. The journalist, Arman Soldin, 32, and four colleagues were with Ukrainian soldiers when they came under a Grad rocket attack on Tuesday afternoon, the agency said. Mr. Soldin is the 17th journalist to be killed in Ukraine since 2022, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists. His death came just two weeks after a Ukrainian journalist was killed and an Italian journalist injured in an attack on their way to the city of Kherson in southern Ukraine.

☆ ‘Panic’ and Shortages in Parts of Occupied Ukraine Amid Russian Evacuation Orders
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-08 | by ( Marc Santora | Anna Lukinova | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

KYIV, Ukraine — People living in Russian-occupied areas of southern Ukraine described in recent days an atmosphere of confusion, defiance and scarcity, as the occupation authorities ordered tens of thousands of civilians to evacuate in the face of a looming Ukrainian offensive. The New York Times communicated with more than a dozen people in occupied towns and villages in the Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions of Ukraine, by phone and through secure messaging applications. They said gas stations were running dry, grocery store shelves were emptying and A.T.M.s were out of cash. “They discharge people from the hospitals and take away the equipment,” said Andriy, 38, a resident of occupied Kamianka-Dniprovska in the Zaporizhzhia region of southern Ukraine. And people are afraid to ask since there are armed soldiers around.”Access to occupied areas is heavily restricted, and the accounts of residents could not be independently verified.

☆ Zaporizhzhia: Evacuations from Russian-occupied Ukrainian region raise concerns of nuclear power plant safety
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-08 | by ( Helen Regan Julia Kesaieva Mariya Knight Katharina Krebs Kostan Nechyporenko Stephanie Halasz | Helen Regan | Julia Kesaieva | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

But the evacuation of a town close to the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant has raised concerns about the facility’s stability. The plant, Europe’s largest nuclear power station, is held by Russian forces but mostly operated by a Ukrainian workforce. The plant is also significant because Ukraine relies heavily on nuclear power. On the groundOn Sunday, Ukraine’s Operation Command South spokeswoman said Russian forces were trying to exhaust Ukraine’s air defense system. Bakhmut has been the site of a months-long assault by Russian forces that has driven thousands from their homes and left the area devastated.

☆ Ukraine military says all 35 drones Russia launched overnight destroyed
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-08 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

May 8 (Reuters) - Ukraine's top military command said on Monday that its forces destroyed all 35 Iranian-made Shahed drones that Russia had launched overnight at different targets around the country. It added that in addition, 61 airstrikes and 52 attacks from the heavy rocket salvo fire systems were launched over the past day on the positions of Ukrainian forces and populated areas. "Unfortunately, there are dead and wounded civilians, high-rise buildings, private homes and other civilian infrastructure were damaged," it said. Kyiv's Mayor Klitschko said that at least five people were injured in the capital amidst damage done to buildings and infrastructure. Reporting by Lidia Kelly in Melbourne; Editing by Michael PerryOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Ukraine's defense minister is worried the West will get cold feet if Kyiv's much-expected counterattack is a flop
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-08 | by ( Chris Panella | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov told The Washington Post he fears the attack is being "overestimated." Reznikov worries if the attack isn't successful, Ukraine will lose support from its Western allies. If people are hoping for "something huge," the actual results of the attack could lead to "emotional disappointment," Reznikov told the Post. "We inspired everywhere because the perception was that we will fall during 72 hours," Reznikov said, according to the Post. But the track record means Ukraine's partners now have a "joint expectation that it would be successful again," he added.

☆ Russia launches fresh wave of strikes on Ukrainian cities; Wagner boss ditches threat to leave Bakhmut
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-08 | by ( Natasha Turak | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Russia launched a new wave of attacks on Ukrainian cities Kyiv, Odesa and Kherson, just one day ahead of Moscow's planned Victory Day celebrations on Tuesday, which feature a large military parade and commemorate the Soviet Union's victory over Nazi Germany in 1945. The Victory Day parade has come to encapsulate Russian President Vladimir Putin's vision of his country, and is set to go ahead despite some concern over a recent alleged drone attack on the Kremlin. Meanwhile, Wagner Group leader Yevgeniy Prigozhin has backtracked on his threat to pull his fighters out of the war-torn city of Bakhmut after he announced that Russian military officials agreed to send his group ammunition he said was badly lacking. Wagner Group combatants have spearheaded Russian fighting in Bakhmut, which has become the scene of the war's longest and bloodiest battle.

☆ Russia's war on Ukraine latest: Wave of attacks ahead of Victory Day holiday
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-08 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

May 8 (Reuters) - Russia carried out drone, missile and air strikes on Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities through the night, escalating attacks in the run-up to its cherished Victory Day holiday that celebrates the defeat of Nazi Germany. CONFLICT* Ukraine's top military command said its forces destroyed all 35 Iranian-made Shahed drones that Russia had launched overnight at targets around the country. * Kyiv's mayor said at least five people were wounded in the capital amid damage to a fuel depot, cars, buildings and infrastructure. * Russia has intensified shelling of Bakhmut hoping to take it by Tuesday - Russia's Victory Day holiday, Ukraine's top general in charge of the defence of the besieged city said, vowing to do everything to prevent it. EU WEIGHS SANCTIONS ON CHINA* The European Union has proposed sanctions on Chinese firms accused of selling equipment that could be used in weapons to support Russia's war machine, the Financial Times said.

☆ Russian strikes on Kyiv wound at least five, officials say
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-07 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

[1/4] An explosion of a drone is seen during a Russian drone strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv, Ukraine May 8, 2023. REUTERS/Gleb GaranichMay 8 (Reuters) - At least five people were wounded due to Russian strikes on Kyiv, city officials said early on Monday, as Moscow launched another large-scale attack on Ukraine. Klitschko said drone wreckage fell on a two-storey building in the Sviatoshyn region, adding that blasts continued in Kyiv. Reuters' witnesses said they had heard numerous explosions in Kyiv, with local officials saying that air defence systems were repelling the attacks. Separately, Russian forces shelled eight locations in Sumy region in northeastern Ukraine on Sunday, the regional military administration said in a Facebook post.

☆ Ukrainian media report explosion in Odesa, widespread air raid alerts
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-07 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

[1/4] A firefighter works at the site of a resort area hit by a Russian missile strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Odesa region, Ukraine May 8, 2023. Press Service of the Operational Command South of the Ukrainian Armed Forces/Handout via REUTERSMay 7 (Reuters) - An explosion was heard following a missile attack that hit the Black Sea city of Odesa overnight, a local Ukrainian official said, while air raid alerts rang out in other regions of the country including the capital, Kyiv. "There has been an enemy missile attack," Serhiy Bratchuk, spokesperson for the Odesa military administration, said on his Telegram channel. "Stay in the shelters until the air raid alarm goes off!" Ukrainian public broadcaster Suspilne also reported an explosion followed by a fire in Odesa and the sound of explosions in Kherson in the south.

☆ Russia keeps up missile attacks on Ukraine ahead of expected Kyiv offensive
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-07 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

KYIV, May 7 (Reuters) - Russia kept up its missile attacks on Ukraine on Sunday ahead of a widely anticipated Ukrainian counteroffensive, targeting an industrial site in the southern Mykolaiv region, authorities said. Ukrainian air force spokesman Yuriy Ihnat told local television on Sunday morning that a total of six of those missiles had been fired at Ukraine overnight but that none had hit their targets. Russian forces have stepped up their long-range missile strikes on civilian and infrastructure targets in recent days. The overnight strikes coincided with Ukrainian and Russian media reports of multiple explosions across Russian-occupied Crimea. Ukraine, without confirming any role in those attacks, says destroying enemy infrastructure is preparation for a planned ground assault.

CNN —A Russian military blogger has been injured and his driver killed after their car was blown up, Russian state media reported, the latest attack on a pro-war figure. Zakhar Prilepin was hospitalized with a leg injury in the blast in the Nizhny Novgorod region, about 250 miles east of Moscow, TASS said. There is a war going on.”Last month another military blogger, Vladlen Tatarsky, was killed in an explosion at a cafe in St. Petersburg. Nationalist writers are a key part of the Kremlin’s propaganda machine, strongly supporting the war in Ukraine but given unusual freedom to criticize its conduct. Unlike Russian state media, many of the most influential military bloggers have not shied away from criticizing Moscow for its battlefield defeats including the withdrawal from Kherson in November or, most recently, the stalling of the drawn-out fight for Bakhmut.

Other NATO allies have donated 10 Multiple Launch Rocket Systems, according to the State Department. Depending on the location and strength of the jamming, a rocket can still launch and result in a successful strike with significant damage. Widespread Russian jamming can have drawbacks for their own forces as well, impacting their ability to communicate and operate. For nearly a year, the HIMARS system has been the longest-range rocket system Ukraine has, allowing troops to fire up to six rockets in quick succession at Russian positions as far as 50 miles away. “Jamming is like the weather or the terrain, it’s something that happens that you have to deal with,” the official said.

"If, because of your petty jealousy, you do not want to give the Russian people the victory of taking Bakhmut, that's your problem," Prigozhin added in the video. A senior Ukrainian official said Russia was bringing Wagner mercenary fighters from along the front line to Bakhmut to capture it by Victory Day. In another sign of disarray on the Russian side, former Russian deputy defence minister Colonel General Mikhail Mizintsev joined Wagner as a deputy commander, Russian pro-war social media channels reported. Earlier, Prigozhin was pictured surrounded by corpses he said were his men, shouting abuse at Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu and Chief of General Staff Valery Gerasimov. Moscow accused Ukraine of firing drones at the Kremlin in the early hours of Wednesday in an attempt to kill Putin.

☆ The Dnipro River, Axis of Life and Death in Ukraine
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-05 | by ( Nicole Tung | Marc Santora | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The thunder of artillery echoes night and day over the mighty Dnipro River as it winds its way through southern Ukraine. With Russian and Ukrainian forces squared off on opposite banks, fighters have replaced fishermen, surveillance drones circle overhead and mines line the marshy embankments. Carving an arc through Ukraine from its northern border to the Black Sea, through Kyiv, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson, the Dnipro shapes the country’s geography and economy, its culture and its very identity. And now it helps define the contours of battle — as it has for millenniums, a barrier and a conduit to warring Scythians, Greeks, Vikings, Huns, Cossacks, Russians, Germans and many more. Visiting towns and villages along the Dnipro a year after Russia’s full-scale invasion and ahead of a much-anticipated Ukrainian counteroffensive, Nicole Tung, a photographer for The New York Times, traveled a path marked by hope and horror, joy and sorrow.

☆ Engineers reduce risk of dam bursting near Russian-held Ukraine nuclear plant, TASS reports
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-05 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

May 5 (Reuters) - Engineers have reduced the risk of a dam bursting and damaging a large Russian-held Zaporizhzhia nuclear power station in Ukraine, a senior Russian official was quoted as saying by TASS news agency on Friday. "As we anticipated, a technical solution to the problem has been found," Karchaa told TASS, quoting regional officials in Kherson region, where the dam is located. "A gate of the Kakhovka hydropower plant has been opened and repair works have begun at the Kakhovka canal. He had earlier told TASS that a possible breach of the dam owing to high water levels could flood the cable line for the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant further east and cause nuclear safety risks. Russian troops seized the plant, Europe's largest nuclear station, as they invaded parts of Ukraine last year.

☆ Russia says high waters threaten dam near Ukrainian nuclear plant - Tass
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-05 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

May 4 (Reuters) - Record high water levels could overwhelm a major dam in southern Ukraine and damage parts of the Russian-controlled Zaporizhzhia nuclear power station, a Russian official told Tass agency on Thursday. "This (would create) functional problems for the operation of the plant and risks for nuclear safety," he told Tass. Last November, after Russian forces withdrew from the nearby southern Ukrainian city of Kherson, satellite imagery showed significant new damage to the dam. Russian troops took over the plant as they invaded parts of Ukraine last year. It is at the centre of a nuclear security crisis due to near-constant shelling in its vicinity which Kyiv and Moscow blame on each other.

☆ Russia-Ukraine War: Live Updates
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-05 | by ( Matthew Mpoke Bigg | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +5 min

Smoke rises from the side of the Ilsky Oil Refinery manufacturing complex in the Krasnodar region in southern Russia. For the past several days, Russian infrastructure near Ukraine’s border and in Russian-controlled Crimea has been targeted repeatedly. But it has usually maintained ambiguity about involvement in attacks on Russian territory. Russian officials reported strikes on train lines in Russia’s Bryansk region on Monday and Tuesday. Four drones also attacked storage facilities on Thursday at one of the largest oil refineries in southern Russia’s Krasnodar Territory, according to Tass, the Russian state news agency.

☆ Fact Check-Photograph shows July 2022 explosion in Russian ammunition depot, not recent airfield airstrike
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-04 | by ( Reuters Fact Check | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

A picture of a large explosion has been miscaptioned online as if showing a recent Ukrainian strike on a Russian airfield. The image dates from July 2022 and shows an attack on a Russian ammunition depot in Kherson. Reuters found one recent report about a Ukrainian strike in Berdiansk, published on May 1 by Ukrainian news agency Ukrinform (here). The photograph dates from July 2022 and shows a strike on a Russian ammunition depot. This article was produced by the Reuters Fact Check team.

Peskov did not provide any evidence to his claims, nor additional details regarding the alleged attack, saying that information would be released later. Earlier this week, Russia claimed Ukraine launched a drone strike targeting the Kremlin in an attempt to assassinate Russian President Vladimir Putin, calling it a “planned terrorist attack.” Ukraine has strongly denied any involvement. The United States had nothing to do with this. Fabrice Coffrini/AFP/Getty ImagesRyabkov also accused US officials of trying to “promote the idea of Washington’s non-involvement” in the purported drone attack, TASS reported. “Washington has long been a direct party to the Ukrainian conflict and aims to destroy sovereign Russia,” he said, according to TASS.

☆ Russia's air force has taken a beating, but its jets could still turn the tables in Ukraine, experts say
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-04 | by ( Michael Peck | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Russia's air force has had a limited role in Ukraine, despite numerical and technological advantages. Russia has held its air force back largely because of Ukraine's effective air-defense network. Which raises the question: If Ukrainian air defenses fade, will the Russian Air Force — known as the VKS — finally become a decisive factor in the war? Ukraine's small but resourceful air force put up spirited resistance that mitigated Russia's numerical and technological superiority, however. "So the air force, I think, would definitely be committed much more heavily if they had a chance."

[1/5] Local residents are seen a during an evacuation effort at a bus station in the outskirts of Kherson, Ukraine May 4, 2023. Fil was one of dozens of Kherson residents who headed to the local bus station to catch minibuses out of the city where at least 23 civilians were killed on Wednesday in attacks that hit a train station, a hypermarket and residential buildings. Kherson residents have lived under almost constant Russian fire since Ukrainian forces forced Moscow's troops to retreat from the city in November after nearly eight months occupation. After first leaving in November, Fil went back to Kherson in early April from Odesa, where she was returning on Thursday. Nataliya Boiko, 67, had just returned to Kherson to check on her apartment and water her plants.

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