06:10 – Kiev: Russians plunder flooded villages
In the occupied territories of the Kherson region, the Russian army plunders the villages that were flooded after the destruction of the Kakhovskaya Dam. The complaint – as reported by UNIAN – comes from the National Center of Resistance. Now the high tide is receding and the locals want to go home. But the Russians blocked the entrances to these villages and ransacked the houses.” According to the National Center of Resistance, in the village of Velika Kardashinka in Skadowski District, “the Russians also looted the houses where people stayed” While in Julia Pristan, they locked people in a local school, confiscated their passports and prevented them from going home.
05:44 am – Ukrainian forces shell the city of Mlitopol
The Ukrainian Armed Forces bombed the city of Melitopol in the Zaporizhia region. The tax is reported. Huge explosion in Melitopol. “In the middle of the night a bang was heard in the city,” we are together with russia´ on Telegram, the Russian agency wrote, citing Vladimir Rogov, the head of the movement. He added that, according to preliminary information, the air defense was activated. Rogov also reported that Ukrainian forces fired missiles at the city of Tokmak.
05:41 – Korean leader Kim Jong Un promised Russia closer relations
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un expressed his “full support and solidarity” and desire to build closer strategic relations with Russia in his congratulatory message to President Vladimir Putin on Russia Day. The Korean Central News Agency stated that your country will seek to develop these cooperative relations with every effort, “valuable strategic assets.”
02.42 am – mines and bombs, resistance of Ukrainian farmers and lumberjacks
By Marta Serafini, Posted in Kherson and Liman region
“Whoa! In this field, they are clearing mines, and we can’t go on.” On the road between Mykolaiv and Kherson, the farmland is an expanse of tall grass glistening in the May sun. Everywhere, strips of red and white plastic tape and skull markings flutter in the wind. Danger Mines. A group of three demining experts moved slowly. They are working on detonating an unexploded device. “Don’t get too close. We’ll make it shine soon,” they warn. Note by the way. A little more than 20 minutes pass, then the roar and black smoke. We work 7 days a week, 10 hours a day. Valery, the head of the demining team, takes off his helmet. He’s sweaty…
Photography by Vincenzo Circosta
02.40am – Psychological warfare surrounding the attack: village recaptured in Donetsk
Kiev, according to analysts, is moving along 4-5 axes. Try to break through or simply conduct reconnaissance operations involving intense combat. He achieved successes at Blagodatnoye, in Donetsk, abandoned by the Russians to avoid encirclement, and in the Bakhmut region. Attack the front lines, usually held by light detachments, and try to advance to push the enemy to mobilize his reserves. The goal is to spread it out as much as possible in different areas to take advantage of the low supply of troops.
02:39 – Kyiv: A third village has also been liberated
The Ukrainian army also reoccupied a third village in Donetsk: Makarovka, which was taken by Kievan forces after they had already liberated Blagodatnoye and Nikoshin during the day. Confirmation came via a cable from Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar. And he added, “In the direction of Bakhmut, our forces continue their offensive operations – as he announced -. There are successes in the Berkovsky reservoir area. We advanced 250 meters in the south, and we advanced in two directions, from 300 to 1,500 meters.” He added that no positions were lost in the area. Areas where Ukrainian forces are in a defensive position.
02:08 – the number of nuclear warheads of the military forces is increasing again
In the past year, the nuclear arsenals of many countries, especially China, have grown, while other nuclear powers have continued to modernize their arsenals as geopolitical tensions escalate. “We are approaching, or may already be at, the end of a long period in which the number of nuclear weapons has decreased worldwide,” Dan Smith, director of the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, told AFP. According to the SIPRI Institute, the total number of nuclear warheads of the nine nuclear powers – Great Britain, China, France, India, Israel, North Korea, Pakistan, Russia and the United States – fell to 12,512 at the start of 2023, from 12,710 in all. beginning of 2022. Of those, 9,576 were in “military stockpiles for potential use,” up 86 from the previous year. SIPRI distinguishes between a country’s stocks available for use and its total stocks, which includes old stocks that are expected to be decommissioned. “Stockpiles are usable nuclear warheads, and their numbers are starting to go up,” Smith said, noting that numbers are still far from more than 70,000 in the 1980s. Most of the increase came from China, which increased its stockpile from 350 to 410 warheads. India, Pakistan, and North Korea also increased their stockpiles of weapons, and Russia grew by a smaller amount, from 4,477 to 4,489, while the other nuclear powers maintained the size of their arsenals. Russia and the United States still have nearly 90% of all nuclear weapons.
02:01 a.m. – Kiev and Russians blow up a dam in Donetsk
Russian forces blew up a dam in the Donetsk region, causing floods on both sides of the river. This is what Valery Chershin, a spokesman for the Tauride Directorate of the Ukrainian Defense Forces, told Ukrainska Pravda, according to what the same newspaper reported on its website. On the Yali River, the invaders blew up a dam, causing flooding on both sides of the river. However, this did not affect the offensive operations of the Tauride Defense Forces. The news was released while the situation along the banks of the Dnipro River was still very dangerous following the collapse of the Nova Kakhova Dam.