An AFP war correspondent died while doing his job, in Chasov Yar due to artillery fire his name was Arman Soldin. The area has been the most targeted in recent days because supplies to Ukrainian troops still arrive from there.
And while fighting is going on at the front at the end of Victory Day in Moscow 12,000 fireworks adorned the skies, the press service of the Western Military District reported. The fireworks display lasted 10 minutes. It was possible to watch the fireworks from 16 locations in the capital.
Ukraine expects to receive a political invitation to NATO at the alliance summit in Vilnius on 11 and 12 July, said Olga Stefanishyna, Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said that if Kiev does not succeed in the counteroffensive, there will be another one: ‘Do not consider this counteroffensive as the last one, because we do not know what will come out of it. And if we succeed in this counteroffensive and liberate our territories, then you will say: yes, it was the last one, but if not, it means we have to prepare for the next counteroffensive,’ Kuleba said in an interview.
The advisor to the head of the Ukrainian Civic Chamber Podoliak is of the same opinion: ‘The counteroffensive cannot be regarded as a battle that will decide everything’, according to him, ‘these are dozens, hundreds, a series of events’.
Among the rumours in the social sphere that even the Russians do not believe much is the news about the killing of the commander-in-chief of the Ukrainian armed forces Valery Zaluzhny. Although the commander has not been seen in public for over a month, and yesterday refused to appear at a NATO meeting even by video conference, this does not mean much given the situation at the front. On 7 and 8 May for sure, one of the objects hit by Russian shelling was the headquarters, where one of the commanders of the Ukrainian armed forces was located. But it was not known which commander.
The headquarters was located not far from the Pavlograd crater. True to the principle ‘lightning does not strike twice in the same place’, the Ukrainian military leaders settled in the vicinity of Pavlograd, where Russian aerospace forces had struck before. Zaluzhny’s refusal to attend the NATO summit could be related to the consequences of the fire damage.
The US will not supply long-range missiles to Ukraine Politico reports. According to the newspaper, this is due to Britain’s decision to supply Kiev with such missiles: the publication confirms the insider that London plans to transfer similar ATACMS with a range of 100 km to 300 km to Ukraine. At the same time, the US is promising new long-term military assistance to Ukraine to the tune of $1.2 billion, the Pentagon said in a note. The forthcoming package of assistance to Ukraine from the US includes: additional air defence assets and ammunition; equipment that will help integrate launchers, missiles, and radar provided by European states and allies into the Ukrainian air defence system; ammunition to shoot down drones; 155mm artillery shells; and services of commercial firms that provide satellite imagery.
Russia denounces the treaty on conventional armed forces in Europe. Putin appointed Ryabkov as his representative when Parliament considers Russia’s denunciation of the Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe.
The Russian Armed Forces on 9 May shot down 25 drones. Approximately 30 other drone attempts were stopped in Moscow and the region. Thus, there is a continuous massive launching of UAVs. According to a social source from the Russian sphere, ‘the night of 8-9 May will be recorded in history as the most massive use of drone attacks to protect the Russian Federation. It is also unfortunate that several dozen drones were launched from the territory of the Russian Federation, including aircraft-type drones. A week ago, the Internet complained that it was impossible to order a normal taxi in Moscow because of a GPS malfunction. As shown today and will be seen from last night’s results, these measures are fully justified. Another feature of the hostilities was the use of apparently ‘finished’ stocks of ‘U-points’ (several attempts to hit Lugansk and Valuyki)’.
Evgenij Prigozhin said the Wagner group would not leave Bachmut for several more days: ‘we will fight and then we will find out’. The Ukrainian armed forces are ‘tearing the flanks’ in the direction of Bachmut and will launch a counter-offensive in the near future, the Wagner number one continued.
The Russian army revealed the movement of three brigades of the Ukrainian armed forces in the direction of Krasno-Liman – Ukrainian militants were hit and, according to unverifiable Russian sources, suffered casualties. Also in the Krasno-Liman direction, units of the ‘Centre’ troop grouping inflicted fire damage on Ukrainian and temporary deployment sites of Ukrainian mercenaries/foreign battalion volunteers in the areas of Petrovsky, Tern and Serebryanka.
In response, the Ukrainian military again fired at civilian objects on the left bank of the Kherson region, emergency services reported. The Ukrainian armed forces fired bullets at Nova Kakhovka, Aleshki, Hola Pristan, Dnepryan and other settlements in the Kherson region. Ukrainian fighters fired artillery shells. In total, along the left bank of the Kherson region, Kiev formations fired 85 rounds.
Also Ukrainian forces fired at the Druzhba pipeline in the Bryansk region again. According to local Russian sources, in the early hours of the morning, Ukrainian armed forces attacked the Druzhba oil pipeline in the Bryansk region. The shot fell on three tanks for the storage of oil products: holes were found, but the containers were empty. The type of ammunition used in the bombing is unknown. There were no casualties or fires and no one was injured.
During the day of 9 May on the line of contact, fighting continued in Bachmut, where Russian forces continued to push Ukrainian forces into the western outskirts of the city near Liberators of Donbass Street. Artillery fire does not stop along the entire line of contact: on Russian territory, several civilians were killed under fire from Ukrainian forces and a child was injured in a village near Melitopol. Ukrainian formations continued shelling the Belgorod region: civilian infrastructure and residential buildings in Shebekino and Spodaryushino were damaged.
Russian troops carried out at least six attacks on targets in the vicinity of Kharkov, including three in the city. In the Dergachevsky district, Ukrainian targets were hit in the area of CHP-5.
In Horlivka and neighbouring suburbs, residential structures and a school building were hit: fortunately, there were no casualties.
The destruction of the Zmievskaya GRES fuel storage facility in the Kharkiv region was reported. For the second day, the Russian Armed Forces are striking rear targets in the Kharkiv region: the general nature of the fire damage indicates the intention to reduce the offensive and logistical capabilities of the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
One of the affected facilities was a fuel oil storage facility near the Zmievskaya GRES. According to Russian sources on the ground, the fire was located, but could not yet be contained. The only logical explanation for choosing this depot as the target is that the tanks were used to store fuel for military equipment needs.
In the state district power plant itself, some of the power units now have gas as reserve fuel. It is possible that fuel oil was previously used for the needs of the thermal power plants, but in the current situation, fire damage has not affected the power plant’s performance.
Graziella Giangiulio
