Tuesday, May 9

Russia’s war against Ukraine

Rescuers are seen in a multi-story residential building damaged by shrapnel from a downed kamikaze drone of the Russian army. On the night of May 8, the Russian army attacked Kyiv Oblast with Iranian-made shock drones “Shahed”. (Photo by Sergei Chuzavkov/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)

Ukraine downs 23 Russian cruise missiles.Russian forces launched a total of 25 Kalibr and X-101/X-555 cruise missiles overnight on May 9, the Ukrainian Air Force said in its morning update.

Zelensky signs decree making May 9 Europe Day, proposes to celebrate Victory Day on May 8. President Volodymyr Zelensky has submitted a draft law to the Ukrainian parliament proposing that May 8 be the Day of Remembrance and Victory over Nazism in the Second World War.

European Commission President arrives in Kyiv.European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen arrived in Kyiv in the early hours of May 9. “Good to be back in Kyiv,” she tweeted.

Poll: 67% of Ukrainians are against any compromises with Russia; 82% say Putin new Hitler. A survey published by the Democratic Initiatives Foundation on May 8 shows that over 67% of Ukrainians say the war with Russia can end only after a Ukrainian victory. Roughly 5% of those asked say any compromises are acceptable as long as they end the war.

Russian troops suspend operation of occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant. 

Russian occupation authorities are suspending the operation of reactors at the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, Russian state media TASS wrote on May 8.

City Council: Russian forces begin forced mobilization in occupied Mariupol. 

Russian occupying forces in Mariupol have started mobilizing residents, the exiled Mariupol City Council reported on May 8. According to the city council, this news was provided by residents still in the city.

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Russian overnight missile strike destroys Red Cross warehouse in Odesa. 

Russian forces “completely” destroyed a Red Cross warehouse in Odesa during a missile strike, the humanitarian aid organization reported on May 8.

Opendatabot: More companies registered than closed in Ukraine during full-scale war. Ukrainians registered 5.6 times more new companies than they closed over a year of Russia’s full-scale war, according to the monitoring service Opendatabot.

Russian-controlled Transnistria asks Moscow for more ‘peacekeepers.’Leonid Manakov, who represents Transnistria in Moscow, requested more Russian “peacekeepers” due to the “deteriorating security situation” in an interview with Russian state media Sputnik on May 8. In March 2022, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe recognized Transnistria as “a Moldovan territory occupied by Russia.”

UK Defense Ministry: Russia recruiting Central Asian labor migrants for Ukraine war. The Russian military has been recruiting migrant workers from Central Asia to fight in Ukraine, the U.K. Defense Ministry reported on May 8, adding that it often happens in mosques and immigration offices.

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Ukraine war latest: Russian overnight attacks on Kyiv, Odesa, Kherson oblasts injure 18

Russia launched another massive attack on Ukraine, injuring eight civilians on May 8. Air defense downed all 35 Iranian-made Shakhed drones Russian forces launched against Kyiv Oblast.

Photo: Andriy Zhyhaylo/Obozrevatel via Getty Images

Human cost of war

Russian attacks hit 10 Ukrainian regions, kill 3 civilians over past day. Russia struck a total of 127 settlements over the past 24 hours, killing three civilians and injuring 28, Ukraine’s Defense Ministry media center said on May 8.

Update: Death toll in Russia’s May 3 attack on Kherson rises to 24.“This morning, the heart of a 54-year-old woman, who was seriously injured during the Russian shelling of the city on May 3, stopped at the hospital,” Kherson Oblast Governor Oleksandr Prokudin said on May 8.

9 injured as Russia attacks Kherson Oblast. Russian troops struck Kherson Oblast’s village of Stanislav on May 8, injuring six civilians, including a 9-year-old child, said Governor Oleksandr Prokudin. Three more people were reportedly wounded in other regional settlements.

UN: At least 23,606 civilian casualties in Ukraine since start of Russia’s full-scale invasion. According to the United Nations human rights agency, Russia’s war against Ukraine has killed at least 8,791 civilians and wounded at least 14,815 from Feb. 24, 2022, to May 7.

Opinions and insights

Taras Tarasiuk: How the Russian Orthodox Church’s covert actions against Ukraine have failed

“After the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion, the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate clergy were found to have distributed pro-Russian material, campaign leaflets of political parties banned in Ukraine, and Russian symbols,” writes Taras Tarasiuk, an analyst at the Democratic Initiatives Foundation, in his recent op-ed.

Photo: Roman Pilipey/Getty Images

International response

AP: US to announce new long-term security assistance package for Ukraine. The U.S. should announce a $1.2 billion military aid package for Ukraine on May 9, the Associated Press reported, citing U.S. officials. The aid package is designed to meet Ukraine’s long-term security needs, including helping Ukraine protect itself from Russian missile and drone attacks.

Polish Defense Minister: 10 MiG-29 fighter jets already provided to Ukraine. Polish Defense Minister Mariusz Błaszczak confirmed during a state visit to Canada on May 8 that his country has already provided ten MiG-29 fighter jets to Ukraine, news outlet Defence24 reported.

Bloomberg: EU hoping to prevent Russian oil transfers at sea. The European Union has proposed banning vessels from entering its ports that help Russia evade sanctions and price caps with cargo transfers at sea, Bloomberg reported on May 8.

FT: EU plans to sanction Chinese companies aiding Russia’s war. For the first time since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine began, the European Commission has proposed sanctions against Chinese businesses supporting Moscow’s war efforts, the Financial Times reported on May 8.

In other news

Ukrainian journalists win Pulitzer for work in besieged Mariupol. Ukrainian journalists Mstyslav Chernov, Evgeniy Maloletka, and Vasilisa Stepanenko have won the Pulitzer Prize for Public Service for their reporting from Mariupol, then under Russian siege, the Associated Press announced on May 8.

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