The war has reached its 69th day and the Russian armed forces are strengthening their presence in the east and south of Ukraine. A new attack was reported at the Azovstal plant in Mariupol, where a huge fire broke out while Odessa continues to remain under bombs: a church was hit, there were deaths and injuries and a 15-year-old boy was also killed. Meanwhile, the EU is working on the sixth package of sanctions against Russia, which provides for a gradual embargo on oil and the withdrawal of “other banks” from the Swift transaction system.
Insights into the war between Russia and Ukraine.
The background. Russia: “We alone defeated the Nazis.” Thus propaganda cancels the Shoah
The analysis. Andrea Margelletti’s point: “Putin bombs the Ukrainians Lavrov the truth”
The point. Energy, there is a lack of legal guarantees. Italy ready to pay in rubles
The reportage: Donbass, the mission of soldier Roman among those who have nothing to lose
What happened yesterday: the point hour by hour
Follow the live updates hour by hour
08.40 – CNN, Putin could soon declare war on Ukraine
Russian President Vladimir Putin could formally declare war on Ukraine on May 9, and this would allow for the full mobilization of Russian reserve forces as invasion efforts continue to falter. CNN reports this, citing US and Western officials. May 9, known as “Victory Day”, because Russia commemorates the country’s defeat against the Nazis in 1945. And for Western officials cited as a source by CNN, this symbolic date can mark, precisely because of its high level of propaganda, an acceleration of the Russian offensive in Ukraine. To date, Putin has insisted on referring to the brutal conflict that broke out on February 24 as a “special military operation”.
08.28 – Kiev: three civilians killed in bombing in Donetsk, in the city of Vuhledar
At least three civilians were killed in a Russian bombing raid on the Ukrainian city of Vuhledar, in the eastern Donetsk region. This was reported by the office of the Ukrainian president quoted by the Guardian.
08.14 – Johnson’s speech today in Parliament in Kiev, new aid
The British Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, will describe Ukraine’s resistance to the Russian invasion as the country’s “best hour”, when today he will speak via video link to the Ukrainian Parliament. He will be the first international leader to do so since the start of the war. The quote the premier will use is from one of Winston Churchill’s most famous speeches in the House of Commons. As the BBC reports, Johnson is quick to say that the UK Parliament met during World War II, just like the Verkhovna Rada during the war with Russia. At that moment, the British Prime Minister will say, the British people showed “such unity and determination that we remember the moment of greatest danger as our best hour”. Johnson, according to the anticipations of the British media, is expected to announce a new military package in support of Ukraine worth 300 million pounds.
08.02 – Intelligence Gb: “Perhaps much weaker Russians after the invasion”
The Russian military forces “are now weaker forces, materially and conceptually, as a result of the invasion of Ukraine”. British intelligence underlines this in the latest update of Ukraine released by the Ministry of Defense, underlining that “the recovery will be exacerbated by sanctions: this will have an impact on the ability to deploy a conventional military force”.
07.35 – Zelensky on Lavrov, Russia forgets World War II lesson
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky criticized the words spoken in the interview on Rete 4 by the Russian Foreign Minister, Serghei Lavrov, according to which Adolf Hitler had Jews. «I have no words …», said the leader of Kiev in a video message, «no one has heard any denial or justification on the part of Moscow. All we have from there is silence … this means that the Russian leadership has forgotten all the lessons of the Second World War ». “Or maybe he never learned them,” he added.
07.30 – Ukraine: anti-aircraft sirens in Dnipro and Zaporizhia
The anti-aircraft sirens went off in Dnipro and Zhaporizhia, in eastern Ukraine, while the Russian offensive continues. The regional governor, Oleksandr Starukh, invited the inhabitants of the towns of Vasylivka and Tokmok to use the open “green corridor” for the evacuation of civilians. Ukraina reports it 24.
07.25 – Kiev, Moscow could strengthen bombardments to the east on 9/5 Governor Lugansk, with heavy weapons, to conquer the region
Russia could intensify the bombing in the eastern Ukrainian region of Lugansk on May 9, the day of the victory against the Nazis: the head of the regional military administration, Sergii Gaidai said, according to reports from the independent Kiev. Gaidai believes the plan is part of Moscow’s “scorched earth” strategy to conquer the region within that data. According to the governor, Russian forces will use heavy weapons, including artillery and multiple launch systems, to try to destroy “everything in their path”.
07.05 – Dad, I’m ready to meet Putin in Moscow
“I asked Cardinal Parolin” to send “the message to Putin that I was willing to go to Moscow”. Pope Francis says this in an interview with the editor of Corriere della sera, Luciano Fontana, and with the deputy director Fiorenza Sarzanini. “Of course, it was necessary for the leader of the Kremlin to grant some finerine – the Pontiff underlined -. We have not yet received an answer and we are still insisting, even if I fear that Putin cannot and does not want to have this meeting right now ».
06.40 – TASS: more than 1 million Ukrainians brought to Russia
Russian state news agency TASS reports that the Russian defense ministry says more than 1 million people have been brought from Ukraine to Russia since the beginning of the Russian invasion.
06.10 – Ukrainian fighter trapped in a steel mill: “If we run out of food, we will catch and eat birds”
Ukrainian civilians and forces taking refuge in the Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol are facing an “uninterrupted” bombardment, with basic supplies running out, while Ukrainian officials rush to evacuate those inside, according to an officer at the inside the plant. “The attacks are ongoing non-stop, every three or five minutes there were aerial bombardments,” said Svyatoslav Palamar, deputy commander of the Ukrainian Azov regiment. “There are still civilians taking refuge in the plant, yet the enemy continues this bombing.” About 100 civilians were evacuated from the plant on Sunday, but a further evacuation scheduled for Monday did not take place. Meanwhile, the mood inside is gloomy, with the regiment reporting low supplies of water and food. “If it gets worse and we run out of food, we’ll catch birds and do whatever it takes to just keep our nerve,” the deputy commander said.
06.05 – Pentagon, from Russians minimal progress in the Donbass
Russian forces are making “minimal progress” in the Donbass. This was stated by a senior Pentagon official, quoted by the Guardian. The Russians “are not making the progress they planned to make and that progress is erratic,” the US defense official explained, adding that Russian forces in the Donbass region of Ukraine “suffer from poor command and control, low morale and logistics far from ideal “. The Ukrainians retain control of Kharkiv and “have done a great job in the last 24-48 hours pushing the Russians further”, some 40km east of the city, the official added.
06.01 – US, no indications that Moscow receives weapons from third parties
The United States has no indication that Russia is receiving weapons from third countries or that Moscow has obtained such assistance. Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said so. “I have not seen any indication that they have received external assistance from a third nation, nor that they are trying to draw on external sources to receive weapons from other governments or other countries,” Kirby said, quoted by the Russian news agency Tass. “Before February 24 they had gathered a huge amount of their own combat forces outside Ukraine and they still have a lot of that strength,” the Pentagon spokesman noted.
04.50 EU, other Russian banks will leave the Swift system
The sixth EU sanctions package against Russia will include the withdrawal of “other banks” from the Swift transaction system. This is what the head of European diplomacy Josep Borrell has confirmed. These sanctions will affect “the banking sector, there will be other Russian banks leaving Swift”, and “in the energy sector, we are working to prepare proposals that allow us to limit imports of energy from Russia, especially oil,” said the diplomat. at a press conference in Panama.
03.43 Pentagon, Russian super general in the Donbass
The Pentagon confirmed that Russian super general Valery Gerasimov was at the front in Donbass last week.
“We know that he was there for several days last week,” said a senior US defense official, specifying, however, that he “cannot confirm” that the chief of staff of the Russian forces was injured, as the government declared. of Kiev.
02.19 – Zelensky, Lavrov? Russia with no memory of Nazism
Russia has “forgotten all the lessons of the Second World War”. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said this in his latest video speech, after comments by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov according to which Adolf Hitler had “Jewish blood” and “the most ardent anti-Semites are usually Jews”. «Such an anti-Semitic push on the part of your minister – says Zelensky, taken up by the international media – shows that Russia has forgotten all the lessons of the Second World War. Or maybe they never studied those lessons. There is a great scandal in Israel regarding the words “of Lavrov,” however no one hears objections or apologies from Moscow: there is silence. How could this be said – asks the Ukrainian leader – on the eve of the anniversary of the victory over Nazism? These words mean that the top Russian diplomat is blaming the Jewish people for the Nazi crimes ».
02.01 – First Mariupol evacuees arrived in Zaporizhzhia
The first 100 civilians evacuated from the Mariupol steel plant arrived late yesterday evening, Monday 2 May, in the city of Zaporizhzhia. The international media reported this, citing the Ukrainian military police. “It is – explained in a statement – mainly women, children and the elderly, who will now have access to medical care, food, medicine and psychological assistance”.
01.44 – Blinken, Lavrov’s rhetoric vile and dangerous
“The world must oppose this vile and dangerous rhetoric and support our Ukrainian partners in the face of the ferocious onslaught of the Kremlin.” The US Secretary of State Antony Blinken wrote it on Twitter, repeating a tweet from the Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid who condemned the anti-Semitic remarks of the Russian Serghei Lavrov.
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