I amAn air alert was triggered across Ukraine on Monday morning, according to emergency services. According to official information, a rocket attack on the Kiev region is imminent. “Threatened missile attack!” Kyiv regional administration wrote on the Telegram news service. “Stay in the shelters.” Chief of Staff Andriy Yermak warned against compromising Ukraine’s air defense. “Take care of your safety and don’t make air defense mission public,” it said.
According to Ukrainian media reports, explosions were heard in Kyiv, Dnipropetrovsk and Sumy regions. “Air defense systems have been deployed,” the Kyiv regional administration wrote in a telegram. “Stay calm! Stay in shelters until the airstrikes are over!”
On Sunday evening, Russian artillery also hit the city of Nikopol in southern Ukraine’s Dnipropetrovsk region. According to officials, one person died and two others were critically injured. Several buildings were damaged, he said.
All Improvements in Live Ticker:
08:32 – Russian attacks leave at least one dead and dozens injured
According to Ukrainian reports, one person was killed and three others were injured in repeated Russian attacks in Ukraine. Oleksandr Prokudin of the Kherson military administration said on Monday that the Russian armed forces “fired 39 times over the past day” and the city of Kherson in the south of the country was hit “eight times”. “As a result of the Russian aggression, one person was killed and three people, including a child, were injured.”
On Monday morning, Kiev reported further Russian rocket fire, but most of the Russian cruise missiles were intercepted. “Tonight the enemy launched another massive air strike on Ukraine,” Kiev’s military administration said on the online service Telegram on Monday. The Ukrainian Air Force reported in a telegram that 18 missiles were fired, 15 of which were destroyed. Ukraine’s missile defenses have recently been massively strengthened by Western allies providing them with sophisticated defense systems.
The Dnipropetrovsk region in the east of the country also reported renewed airstrikes. According to the local regional administration, 25 people were injured and dozens of buildings were damaged in the city of Pavlohrad.
0828 – Preparations for counter-attack progress
According to the Ukrainian military, preparations are taking shape for an expected spring offensive against the Russian aggressors. A spokesman for the Southern Military Command said on Sunday that one of the “components” was to destroy Russian logistics. He was referring to a fire that reportedly destroyed a large fuel depot on the Russian-annexed Crimean peninsula on Saturday. Ukrainian media quoted Natalia Humenyuk as saying that the fire caused great concern among the Russian military. “The fact that the enemy’s logistics are being penetrated (…) this work prepares the broad, large-scale attack that everyone has been waiting for.” The enemy feels his resources being infiltrated. “And he begins to maneuver.”
Ukraine’s military has not directly claimed responsibility for the fire in the Crimean port city of Sevastopol. However, it said ten oil tankers with a fuel capacity of around 40,000 tonnes for Russia’s Black Sea fleet were destroyed. The fire was allegedly caused by a drone. The governor of Sevastopol, installed by Russia, blames Ukraine.
On Friday, Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov said preparations for a counterattack against the Russian attackers were nearing completion. Ukrainian armed forces are “ready for a higher percentage”.
08:00 – Ukraine claims to have shot down 15 of 18 Russian missiles
According to the Ukrainian military, air defenses shot down 15 of 18 rockets fired by Russian planes on Monday night. Kyiv city authorities said all rockets aimed at the capital had been intercepted.
9:25pm – Pope Francis hints at peace mission
Pope Francis has vaguely hinted that the Vatican is engaged in peace efforts in light of Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine. “Everyone wants a way to peace. I am willing to do anything. A task is currently underway, but it has not yet been made public,” the head of the Catholic Church told reporters on Sunday on a flight back from his trip to Hungary. He did not give any further details. He said he would comment on it when the time comes.
8:14 pm – Ukraine’s army chief Salushnyj meets with NATO commander Gavoli
Chief of Army Staff of Ukraine Valery Zalushny held consultations with Supreme Commander of NATO Forces in Europe Christopher Cavoli. He briefed the US general on the situation on the front lines in Ukraine, Salushnyj said in a telegram. “I have outlined the possible scenarios, threats and preconditions for our future operations.” Zalushnyj did not specify the location of the meeting. Experts believe that Ukraine is currently preparing for a spring offensive to recapture the occupied territories.
During the meeting, he told Cavoli of the need to provide Ukraine with a wide range of weapons and air defense systems that would “help meet the challenges of countering Russian aggression.”
7:58 pm – Zelenskyj: Don’t wait for promised weapons to attack
Volodymyr Zelenskyy has announced that the expected spring offensive against Russia will begin even without some of the weapons already promised by the West. “I want to wait for everything that was promised,” Zelensky said in an interview with journalists from Scandinavia. But only the dates don’t match. Above all, watch the weather closely to determine when to launch an attack.
After all, Ukraine hopes to receive fighter jets from NATO countries as soon as possible. But the offensive will not be delayed, Zelenskyj said. Otherwise, Zelensky said, Russia might come to the conclusion that it should expect Ukrainian progress only after the pilots have trained on the machines in a few months.
7:31pm – After Russian attacks: Oman residents bury their children
The victims of Friday’s Russian missile attack are being buried in Uman, Ukraine. Relatives and friends wept at the coffins of an 11-year-old girl and a 17-year-old boy who died when two Russian missiles hit an apartment building. Almost all of the 23 victims in Oman died in the building. Six children were among the dead, according to Ukrainian Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko.
Mourners place flowers on coffins
What: AP/Bernat Armangue
One of them was 11-year-old Sophia, who was buried on Sunday. Father Fyodor Bosu said the Russian attack had shaken the entire community. “I personally know children, little children, from childhood, and I personally baptized them in this church.” He prayed for an end to the war and for peace to return to Oman and to people’s homes. the land
18:30 – Prigozhin: Ukrainian counteroffensive could turn out to be “tragedy” for Russia
According to Yevgeny Prigozhin, head of the Wagner mercenary group, Ukraine’s expected counterattack could turn out to be a “tragedy” for Russia. In an interview with Russian military blogger Semyon Bekov published on Sunday, Prigozhin said he expected the Ukrainian counteroffensive to begin in mid-May. “This counter-attack could turn out to be a tragedy for our country,” he added.
Prigozhin again complained that his fighters in Ukraine were not being supplied with enough ammunition. “We only have ten to 15 percent of the grenades we need,” the Wagner boss said. He again blamed the Russian military leadership.
Prigozhin is an ally of Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin, but has been embroiled in a power struggle with the Russian Defense Ministry and high-ranking military. In Ukraine, the Wagner Group is currently primarily engaged in the Battle of Pakmut. Fighting for the city in eastern Ukraine has been ongoing for months. According to Kiev, preparations for Ukraine’s long-awaited spring offensive are nearing completion.
18:08 – Zelenskyy thanks partners for support
Volodymyr Zelenskyy thanked his country’s foreign partners for their support in arms, money and other means. He spoke to French President Emmanuel Macron about a new weapons package, Zelensky said in his video address every evening. “It is critical that Russia receives strong signals that the world will not condone Russian terrorism,” he said.
Ukraine and its allies must act with the greatest possible unity and integrity to “protect our common values.” Zelensky said that this was the only way to prevent Russia from prolonging the war and to achieve a normal and just peace. “I thank all the people in the world who are helping to strengthen the isolation of terrorists and stop the supply of weapons and their components to terrorists,” he said. By “terrorists” Zelenskyy means the Russian military.
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