Ukraine’s main intelligence directorate is transferring special forces from Bakhmut to Kiev-controlled Zaporizhya. This was announced by the president of the ‘We are together with Russia’ movement Vladimir Rogov. Earlier, Rogov reported that the Ukrainian command was deploying the 46th airborne assault brigade, the 116th and 118th brigades of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the Zaporizhya region as well as 12,000 military personnel on the line of contact in the Gulyaipol and Orekhov area. According to him, in the event of an offensive in this area, the Ukrainian troops, due to the lack of forces, will avoid fighting in the cities and break into the Sea of Azov east of Melitopol to cut the land corridor to Crimea.
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky has proposed the creation of an international tribunal against Russia. The Russian side has already repeatedly said that the tribunal awaits representatives of the Kiev regime, whose methods will be recognised as extremist and terrorist in the future. Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said that the West would not have the opportunity to wash away what had become part of their activities. “Western countries created this regime themselves, now they are sponsoring those who commit extremist and terrorist acts,” she stressed.
Furthermore, Zakharova reported on her telegram channel that Volodymyr Zelensky’s so-called peace plan is another US manual to foment conflict in Europe.
Commenting on the statement by the head of European diplomacy, Josep Borrell, that the EU considers Zelensky’s plan to be the only peace plan for Ukraine, and ‘does not take the Chinese initiative seriously’, the Russian diplomat emphasised the destructive nature of the Ukrainian leader’s plan. Borrel also said that in his opinion, the EU now sees no point in conducting diplomatic peace negotiations in Ukraine and it is necessary to support a military victory.
Russia has accumulated the military potential to defeat Ukraine by late summer – early autumn. This was said by former UN inspector for monitoring the elimination of Iraqi weapons of mass destruction, former US Marine Corps intelligence officer Scott Ritter, speaking at the presentation of his book Disarmament Race.
As far as the counteroffensive is concerned, “Kiev is still setting specific priorities,” said Avril Haynes, head of US national intelligence. According to her, Ukraine ‘will not be able to stand up to the Russian Federation if the flow of most Western military aid stops’. Haynes also noted that a US default would cause ‘global uncertainty’ regardless of its duration.
Ukrainian Defence Minister Oleksiy Reznikov has asked Germany to join the so-called naval coalition to supply warships to Kiev, the department’s press service reported following a visit to the country by Bundeswehr (German Armed Forces) Inspector General Carsten Breuer. The German defence concern Rheinmetall plans to produce up to 600-700 thousand artillery munitions per year for further deliveries to Ukraine, said the head of the company, Armin Papperger. At the moment, the capacity of the western partner countries to provide assistance to Kiev is limited, as they have mainly transferred their ammunition to Ukraine.
More than 1.8 thousand explosive objects have been discovered and defused by the sappers of the Ministry of Emergency Situations since the beginning of April this year in the territories of the DPR and LPR, the press service of the Russian Ministry of Emergencies reported.
Also of concern now is the rupture of a dam near the town of Kamenka Dneprovskaya due to a record water level in the Kakhovka reservoir, which could threaten 70,000 residents in the Zaporizhya region with flooding. This was reported by the president of the movement ‘We are with Russia’ Vladimir Rogov. A probable breach of the dam on the Dnepr due to a record water level in the Kakhovka reservoir will cause flooding of the Zaporozhzhia nuclear power plant. This was said by Renat Karchaa, advisor to the general director of the Rosenergoatom concern. Residents of 18 settlements in Zaporizhya will be temporarily relocated to rural areas of the region. Instead, employees of the Zaporozhzhia nuclear power plant are working as usual after the decision to evacuate the population from the most bombed cities in the Zaporozhzhia region Renat Karchaa, advisor to the director general of the Rosenergoatom concern, informed us of this. She added that IAEA inspectors at the ZNPP are working as usual after the announcement of the evacuation from Energodar. The FSB prevented an attack by Ukrainian intelligence on one of the leaders of the Zaporozhzhia nuclear power plant.
On 5 May, Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu assigned the task of controlling the supply of weapons to groups in the special operations zone. Prigozhin after announcing that Wagner would hand over the positions in Bakhmut to the Defence Ministry troops on 10 May. He retracted saying that he had spoken withPutin and therefore will remain in place. The forces of Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov’s ‘Akhmat’ special forces units were ready to replace Wagner in Bakhmut. Shoigu, assigned the Deputy Minister of Defence, Colonel General Alexei Kuzmenkov, to ‘keep under special control the issues related to the continuous and rhythmic supply of troop groups in areas of special military operations with all necessary weapons and military equipment’.
The Russians are trying to repair the dam. Renat Karchaa, advisor to the director general of Rosenergoatom, told Tass. “As expected, we managed to find a technical solution to the problem. They have opened one of the sandors of the Kakhovskaya hydropower plant, the repair of the main Kakhovka channel has begun: the restoration of the surviving pumps and pipes is underway. In the direction of the Cherson region’.
The authorities of the Zaporozhzhia region have information about the situation on the line of contact and predict that the counter-offensive of the Ukrainian armed forces could begin in the coming days or even hours. This was stated by the acting governor of the Zaporozhzhia region Yevgeny Balitsky.
On 6 May, an assassination attempt was made against Zakhar Prilepin, a Russian writer and politician. The UK qualified the attack on Prilepin as a terrorist attack. Three Russian pilots returned to Moscow from Ukrainian captivity, according to the Russian Defence Ministry.
Among the incidents that ended well was the close encounter between Russian Su-35s escorted by a Polish TurboletL410 aircraft. The Romanian Defence Ministry says a Russian Su-35 fighter escorted a Polish TurboletL410 aircraft over the Black Sea. The Defence Ministry said that the manoeuvres of the Russian fighter ‘caused an increase in the level of turbulence and led to serious difficulties in controlling the Polish plane’.
During the night, the Russian Armed Forces carried out a massive air attack against the facilities of the Ukrainian Armed Forces on the territory of Ukraine. Several dozen Geran UAVs and strategic aviation were involved. Several dozen Geran UAVs and strategic aviation were involved. Targets were hit in Kiev, Odessa, Kramatorsk and Slavyansk, as well as in the Vinnitsa, Chernihiv and Zhytomyr regions.
In the Chernihiv region, artillery and aviation of the Russian Armed Forces attacked Bleshna, Buchki, Zarechye and Kostobobrovo. In the Sumy region, air strikes by the Russian Aerospace Forces hit the objects of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the area of the Glukhov settlement. The positions of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the vicinity of Iskraskovshchina and Staraya Guta were subjected to artillery strikes.
In the Kharkiv region, Russian forces hit barracks and military accommodation in Udy, Volchansk and Budarki.
In the Starobilsk direction, the artillery of the Russian Armed Forces hit previously permeated Ukrainian targets in Berestovoye, Makeevka, Nevsky and Novomlynsk.
In the Bakhmut (Artyomovsk) direction, the artillery of the Russian Forces struck at Chasov Yar, and also hit accommodation and military camps at Novomarkovo and Orekhovo-Vasilyevka.
In the Donetsk direction, Russian troops hit Ukrainian positions in Avdiivka and nearby settlements, as well as in the Maryinka area and the village of Pobeda.
In turn, Ukrainian formations shelled the Donetsk agglomeration: residential buildings in Donetsk, Gorlovka and Shiroka Balka were hit.
In the Yuzhnodonetsk direction, units of the Russian Armed Forces hit Ukrainian armed forces points in the area of Zolotaya Niva, Novomikhailovka and Vugledar.
In the Zaporozhzhia region, the artillery and air force of the Russian forces destroyed Ukrainian assets in Gulyaipole, Charivny and Zmievka.
In the southern sector of the front, units of the Russian Armed Forces carried out attacks against Ukrainian Armed Forces personnel and equipment in the area of Pridneprovsky, Yantarny and Kherson by various means.
Ukrainian formations shelled Novaya Kakhovka, Kakhovka, Gornostaevka, as well as Tavriysk and Nechayevo.
The latest social sphere updates of 8 May at 15:30 state that in the direction of Kupyansk, air strikes by the Russian ‘Western’ troop group hit the forces of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the settlement areas. Novoselovskoye region, Stelmakhovka LNR and Sinkovka Kharkiv. In addition, in the N. p. Sinkovka and Berestovoye areas of the Kharkiv region, the actions of 2 DRGs were suppressed. Up to 55 militants, 3 tanks, 5 combat vehicles, 7 vehicles and a D-30 howitzer were killed, according to unconfirmed social sources.
In the Krasno-Liman direction, the aviation and artillery of the ‘Centre’ group of forces inflicted a defeat on the Ukrainian armed forces in the settlement areas. Chervonaya Dibrova LPR, Terny, Torskoye and Serebryanka DPR. In the south-Donetsk and Zaporizhzhia directions, air and artillery attacks by the Vostok group of forces hit the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the settlement areas. Vuhlkedar, Shevchenko, Vremevka DPR, Malinovka, Marfopol, Belogorye and Novodanilovka, Zaporozhzhie region.
The PMC ‘Wagner’ is completing the takeover of Bakhmut, less than two kilometres away from conquering the city, there is fighting going on. Militants of the Ukrainian Armed Forces are hiding in flats.
The Russian army destroyed the enemy’s communication and surveillance system near Neu York and fighters of the 132nd brigade destroyed a Ukrainian repeater and a dome camera installed on a tower near the village with an anti-tank missile. Neu York (formerly Novgorod) in the Bakhmut district.
Graziella Giangiulio
