11:10 p.m
Moscow: Operation of the reactors of the Zaporizhia power plant stopped
“The authorities of the Zaporizhia region suspended the operation of the reactors of the nuclear power plant in order to avoid provocation by the Armed Forces of Ukraine”. This was stated by the interim governor of the region Yevgeny Balitsky in an interview with the Krym-24 TV channel, writes the Russian agency TASS, specifying that “the Ukrainian armed forces have begun to drain water from the dams.” “Our water level in the Kakhovka reservoir has risen to 17.08 meters. We understand this is manipulation. Nuclear reactors will be shut down due to the unpredictability of the Ukrainian side’s actions,” he added.
10:44 p.m
Pulitzer Prize to Ukrainian PA reporters in Mariupol and NYT for Bucha
Ukrainian PA journalists Mstyslav Chernov, Evgeniy Maloletka, Vasilisa Stepanenko and Lori Hinnant won Pulitzer Prize for the public service – the most respected of all Pulitzers – for their “bold” reporting Mariupol, then under Russian siege. The PA also won a Pulitzer for its photographic coverage of the war while the staff of the New York Times won the International Reporting award for his “destructive reporting on the Russian invasion of Ukraine, including an eight-month investigation into Ukrainian deaths in Bucha”.
18:02
The Italian Embassy in Kiev: exit
Below is the message published on the website of the Embassy of Italy in Ukraine
Increasingly, heavy rocket attacks continue to be registered in Kiev and across Ukrainian territory. Utmost caution is advised and it is recommended to follow updates and advice from local authorities. In case of emergencies, contact the Embassy of Italy in Kiev on +38 050 3102111.
All travel to Ukraine, in whatever form, is strongly discouraged.
Compatriots who are still in Ukraine are strongly advised to use whatever means are still available, including trains, to leave the country immediately when the curfew is not in effect.
For compatriots who have to travel to Ukraine for professional reasons, we remind you that a possible trip in the presence of this notice is the responsibility of the employer according to the legal provisions. Therefore, it is recommended to take appropriate risk prevention and mitigation measures, as well as utmost caution.
All compatriots who are in the country in any capacity, even temporarily, must register on the “Where we are in the world” website, download the “Crisis Unit” APP for mobile phones, activate geolocation and record their presence and their Report your location to the Consular Office of the Italian Embassy in Kiev ([email protected]). The crisis team can always be reached at +390636225.
Repeated Russian bombing raids on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure are causing severe and prolonged disruptions to electricity, running water and heating in all areas of the country, including the capital Kiev. Internet and telephone lines often do not work, in rural areas, but also in urban centers, in all regions of Ukraine. The situation remains critical, with the real risk of a total collapse of energy infrastructures. In this regard, it is often impossible to get help in case of need.
A curfew generally applies from midnight to 5 a.m. In special circumstances, local authorities can impose an “enhanced” curfew, which can even extend over two consecutive days.
Similar measures can also be ordered in other cities at short notice. Therefore, please keep yourself up to date on the applicable regulations. During the curfew, only those in possession of a special permit are allowed to move around the city. You can only leave your home to go to emergency shelters.
5:55 p.m
Moscow: Zelensky is a Judas of the 21st century
A “traitor”, the “new incarnation of Judas in the 21st century”. This is how the spokeswoman for the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, defines the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy for having brought the celebrations of the defeat of National Socialism forward to May 8th, differing from Moscow, which celebrates this day on May 9th. Zelensky, Zakharova writes on Telegram, is “80 years later a fascist collaborator” who “betrayed his fathers: those who fought in the ranks of the Red Army, who suffered and were tortured in concentration camps, who stood behind them for victory have worked”. .
5:48 p.m
Zelenskyy: «On May 9 we will celebrate the Europe that will defeat the Russians»
“Many years ago, our continent established a tradition of celebrating Europe Day to celebrate the achievements of peace and unity. Today, unity on our continent brings us closer to celebrating the first day of our peace. Starting tomorrow, May 9, every year we will commemorate our historical unity – the unity of all Europeans who destroyed Nazism and will defeat rashism (Russian fascism).” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy writes on Telegram. “Unfortunately Evil has returned. Just as evil came upon our towns and villages 80 years ago, so it is now. Though they are a different aggressor now, the rashists have the same goal as the Nazis: enslavement or destruction. And just like in the Second World War, we are not alone against evil, we fight against it and rely on the common strength of the peoples of the free world,” Zelenskyy said in the embassy, posting a photo of the European flag with the Ukrainian one. May 9 «will be the day of Europe, which supported the Ukrainians nine years of Russian aggression and 439 days of full invasion. This will be Europe Day helping us fight in all directions. This will be Europe Day, our ally. This will be Europe Day – ours, of which Ukraine has always been, is and will be a part.”
3:42 p.m
Kiev: “Hundreds of thousands of Russian soldiers died in Bakhmut”
At least 100,000 Russian soldiers died trying to capture Bakhmut. The estimate comes from Colonel Serhiy Cherevaty, spokesman for the Eastern Command of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. This is an “approximate” calculation, he told Ukrainian TV, which was rebooted by the Guardian. “I am sure that further checks will increase the number. This is normal because the enemy used so-called meat grinder attacks,” he added, referring to successive waves of attacks by Russian soldiers used as cannon fodder. According to Cherevaty, the Russians in Bakhmut are not short of ammunition, as Yevgeny Prigozhin claims. These remarks by the leader of the Wagner mercenaries, he argues, come because Prigozhin “made too many promises about capturing Bakhmut and is making up this nonsense about the lack of ammunition because he has no ‘victories’ other than the loss of men.”
11:40 a.m
Putin: “Fight against the heirs of the Nazis”
It is necessary to confront the “current ideological heirs” of Nazism. This was stated by Russian President Vladimir Putin in a message addressed to the leaders of various former Soviet republics and “to the peoples of Georgia and Moldova” on the occasion of the 78th anniversary of the defeat of the Third Reich.
According to the Kremlin’s website, the message was addressed to the heads of state and government of Azerbaijan, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and the two breakaway republics on Georgian territory Abkhazia and South Ossetia. indeed “to the peoples” of Moldova and Georgia. “Today – the message says – it is our moral duty to preserve the sacred traditions of friendship and mutual assistance handed down by our fathers and grandfathers, not to falsify the historical truth about the Great Patriotic War and not to allow the justifications of Nazis, their accomplices and their present-day ideological heirs”.
11:10
Mayor of Kiev: “The heaviest attack since the beginning of the war”
Tonight was the largest Russian attack on Kiev since the invasion began. This is what the Mayor of Kiev Vitaly Klitschko said to the media when he was at the scene of the crash of one of the drones shot down over the capital. «Thanks to our air defense forces, all 36 drones were shot down. This is the most massive attack on our city since the beginning of the war,” he said, quoted by UNIAN, noting that no one died while five people were injured. “Nobody is in danger of death,” he explained, also referring to damage to residential buildings, a kindergarten and a school.
09:59
Moscow sends Cold War T-55 tanks to the front lines
Moscow has pulled old military equipment from depots, including the T-55 tanks, a model first commissioned by the Soviet Union’s Red Army in 1948, just after the end of World War II. They are so old that they can be found in museums. This is supported by CNN, which analyzed satellite imagery. “The Y 55 was the Soviet Union’s main battle tank of the Cold War era,” said historian John Delaney, senior curator at the Imperial War Museum (IWM) in Duxford, Cambridge. When Russia began scrapping its T-55s in the 1980s, there were still more than 28,000 of them, Delaney said, adding that they were mothballed rather than scrapped. “The Soviets never threw anything away,” he explained. “There are probably a significant number of them in the sheds waiting to be reconfigured.” Satellite images show Russia has taken over dozens of tanks from a depot base in Arsenyev in Russia’s Far East. Publicly available photos show that one of the tanks stored at the base is the T-55. “They’ve been there for a decade or more,” says Delaney. “They will require a significant amount of work to bring them back to good operating condition.” Russia has not confirmed that it has the T-55 stationed on its front lines, and Moscow’s Defense Ministry has not responded to CNN’s request for comment. But in recent weeks, well-informed pro-Kremlin bloggers have been sharing photos showing these tanks in Russian-held territories in Ukraine. The Netherlands-based open-source intelligence website Oryx says it has visual evidence that Russia has lost more than 1,900 tanks since the invasion began, nearly two-thirds of an original fleet of about 3,000.
08:52
Russia recruits immigrants in Asia
Russia recruits Russian workers from Central Asia to serve as soldiers in Ukraine. The British secret service writes it on Twitter and specifies that “recruiters have visited mosques and immigration offices to recruit staff”. “Radio Free Europe reported that recruiters are offering signup bonuses of $2,390 and salaries of up to $4,160 a month,” the Ministry of Defense said in London. “Migrants have also been offered a fast track to Russian citizenship from six months to a year instead “The high monthly salary and enrollment bonuses will entice some migrant workers to enlist,” the intelligence report explains, “these recruits will likely be sent to the front lines in Ukraine, where the casualty rate is extremely high. Migrant recruitment is part of the Russian Defense Ministry’s efforts to meet its goal of 400,000 volunteers to fight in Ukraine The authorities are almost certainly trying to delay any new mandatory mobilization for as long as possible to minimize internal disagreements.
06:30
Air raid on Kiev, 35 of 35 drones destroyed
Last night the Russians attacked Ukraine with 35 Iranian-made kamikaze drones, all of which were destroyed by flak. This was announced by the General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in a post on Facebook. «On the night of May 8, 2023, the enemy again attacked Ukraine, using Iranian-made Shahed attack UAVs. Our defenders destroyed 35 drones out of 35,” the post said.
06:08
Missiles on Odessa, hit a warehouse
Rockets hit the city of Odessa in southern Ukraine. The attack was launched by the Air Force, according to reports from the Ukrainian Army’s Task Force “South”. «The enemy launched a missile attack on Odessa from strategic aircraft. He aimed X-22 missiles at a warehouse and recreation area of a food company on the Black Sea coast,” read a Facebook post.
06:08
Explosions in Kiev, planes deployed
The military administration of the city of Kiev reports air defenses in action, media reports of explosions in the capital.