Volodymyr Zelenskiy repeats pleas for more defensive missiles after fourth large-scale aerial assault on energy system in five weeks. What we know on day 795

• See all our Russia-Ukraine war coverage

Russian missiles have hammered power facilities in central and western Ukraine, increasing pressure on the country’s ailing energy system . Saturday’s airstrikes, carried out with long-range missiles including cruise missiles, was the fourth large-scale aerial assault targeting the power system since 22 March. DTEK, Ukraine’s largest private electricity company, said four of its six thermal power plants had suffered damage. Rescuers battled to put out fires at several energy facilities in the western regions of Lviv and Ivano-Frankivsk, officials said.

President Volodymyr Zelenskiy repeated his pleas to partners for more defensive missiles – notably the Patriot system – and faster deliveries, despite this week’s breakthrough in US military aid . He said Russia’s targets included electricity and gas transit facilities, in particular those important for gas supply to the European Union. Ukrainian air defences brought down 21 of the 34 incoming missiles, the air force’s commander said. After strikes on energy facilities in the central Dnipropetrovsk region, running water supplies were disrupted in Zelenskiy’s home town of Kryvyi Rih, officials said.

A Russian court ordered another suspect to be held in custody following the arrest of an ally of defence minister Sergei Shoigu on suspicion of taking bribes, TASS news agency reported on Saturday . It cited court documents as saying Anton Filatov, a subordinate of deputy defence minister Timur Ivanov, had been ordered to be held in custody.

A missile struck a hospital holding 60 patients on the north-eastern city of Kharkiv , injuring a woman and damaging the building, nearby water pipes and power lines, the regional governor said on Saturday.

Ukraine attacked the Ilsky and Slavyansk oil refineries in Russia’s Krasnodar region overnight to Saturday, a Ukrainian intelligence source told Reuters . The drone strike conducted by the SBU security service caused fires at the facilities, the source said, and Russia’s Kushchevsk military airfield was also attacked in the southern region. The Slavyansk oil refinery was forced to suspend some operations after being damaged in the attack, Russian state news agency Tass cited an executive overseeing the plant as saying.

Russia has sent more troops to Ocheretyne in eastern Ukraine to reinforce an offensive there, but Kyiv’s forces largely hold the village and expect US arms deliveries to turn the tide in their favour, the Ukrainian military said . Russian troops have slowly advanced through at least half a dozen villages on the eastern front since capturing the bastion town of Avdiivka in February. Fierce fighting raged in Ocheretyne on Saturday but Nazar Voloshyn, a spokesperson for the eastern command, said Ukrainian forces had the situation “under control” and controlled two-thirds of the village.

Australia’s defence minister, Richard Marles, announced a $100m military aid package for Kyiv including short-range air defence and drones, with air-to-ground precision munitions coming separately, during a visit to Lviv on Saturday.

Italy summoned Russia’s ambassador after Moscow announced it was putting a subsidiary of Italian heating firm Ariston under the “temporary management” of state energy company Gazprom . An EU spokesperson condemned the move as “yet another proof of Russia’s disregard for international law and rules” and called on Moscow to reverse it. Since invading Ukraine, Moscow has taken the Russian subsidiaries of a number of western companies – notably French food giant Danone and Danish brewer Carlsberg – under what it calls temporary control.

Russia on Saturday said it would require major exporters to carry on converting the bulk of their foreign currency earnings into rubles for another year to help support the national currency. Moscow has used strict capital controls to prop up the value of the ruble in the two years since the west levelled sweeping financial sanctions in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Continue reading...

The Azov brigade, which leaders say has a culture of ‘mutual respect’, is tasked with repelling relentless Russian attacks as the invaders make most of artillery mismatch

Fifteen miles east of the garrison town of Lyman, a desperate fight has been taking place on Ukraine’s eastern front for months. The once verdant Serebryansky pine forest has been reduced to burnt-out stumps, reminiscent of images from the Somme, destroyed amid Russian attacks aimed at eliminating Ukrainian foxholes.

Fearful that the frontline could crack last summer, Ukraine’s commanders deployed the Azov infantry brigade to the sector. Their task was and is to repel what “Maslo”, a 29-year-old staff sergeant with the unit’s first battalion, described as “constant assaults, every day, sometimes for 24 hours”. Occasionally the brigade makes dangerous counterattacks on foot.

Continue reading...

US defence secretary announces aid as Zelenskiy pleads with west for more Patriot systems to defend Ukrainian cities

The US will provide Ukraine with additional Patriot missiles for its air defence systems as part of a massive $6bn additional aid package, the defence secretary has announced.

“This is the largest security assistance package that we’ve committed to date,” Lloyd Austin said after the conclusion of a virtual meeting of dozens of Kyiv’s international supporters.

Continue reading...

Evacuations come after comments by head of Belarus KGB, who said buildings hosted military personnel. What we know on day 794

• See all our Russia-Ukraine war coverage

Officials in Ukraine’s capital announced the evacuation of two hospitals – including a children’s hospital – that they fear could be targeted by Russian strikes . Kyiv’s city administration said on Friday that “a video is being widely circulated online, de facto announcing an enemy attack on these medical facilities”. It referred to comments made by the head of the KGB in Moscow-allied Belarus, who said on national TV that the buildings hosted military personnel “hiding behind sick children”, suggesting Russia could regard the facilities a legitimate military target. The city of Kyiv called the claim “an absolute lie”.

Ukraine’s agriculture minister has been detained after being named as a formal suspect in a multimillion-dollar corruption inquiry . Mykola Solskyi is facing allegations that he took part in illegally seizing state-owned land worth more than $7m when he was head of a major farming company and a member of parliament. He was released on bail. Solskyi denies the allegations and offered his resignation this week, promising to cooperate with the investigation.

Russian air attacks hit an industrial facility and a residential building in north-eastern Ukraine on Friday, killing two people and wounding at least seven, local officials said. Three children and a woman were hurt when guided bombs hit central Derhachi, a town in the Kharkiv region, the governor, Oleh Syniehubov, said on Telegram. Two bombs struck an industrial facility in the Sumy region, regional authorities said. In a separate artillery strike on the Sumy region, two people were killed and three injured, the national police said.

The US defence secretary, Lloyd Austin, announced $6bn in new military aid for Ukraine as Washington rushes to fill gaps left by months of limited American assistance . The package is the second this week, following another valued at $1bn that was announced just after the US president, Joe Biden, signed a much-delayed bill to provide new funding for Ukraine as it struggles to hold back Russian advances.

Ukraine has said Moscow is ramping up attacks on railways in a bid to disrupt military supplies ahead of a fresh Russian offensive while Kyiv waits for new US weapon deliveries . Kyiv fears Russia is seeking to press its advantage on the battlefield ahead of symbolic 9 May Victory Day celebrations, as both sides continue to launch deadly cross-border strikes.

A 20-year-old British man has been charged with masterminding an arson plot against a Ukrainian-linked target in London for Russia and Moscow’s ambassador was summoned by the government, authorities said on Friday . Dylan Earl, from Elmesthorpe in Leicestershire, was charged under the National Security Act 2023, the first case to involve alleged offences under the new legislation. Jake Reeves, 22, from Croydon, has also been charged under the act after a fire at a warehouse in east London in March. The British defence secretary, Grant Shapps, said the “allegations of Russian malign activity in the UK are deeply concerning”.

The first reparation payments are to be made in the next few weeks to survivors of wartime rape by Russian soldiers during the invasion of Ukraine , in a move that Ukraine’s first lady, Olena Zelenska, called “an important step towards restoring justice”. Up to 500 Ukrainian survivors of conflict-related sexual violence are being identified and awarded with interim reparations this year, including financial, medical and psychological support.

France is working with Germany to convince their European partners to provide more air defence capacities to Kyiv , the French defence minister, Sebastien Lecornu, has said.

Continue reading...

Mykola Solskyi is accused of illegally seizing land worth more than $7m when he was the head of a major farming company and an MP

Ukraine’s agriculture minister, Mykola Solskyi, has been detained after being named a formal suspect in a multimillion dollar corruption inquiry.

Blighted by severe corruption scandals since the fall of the Soviet Union, Kyiv has pledged to bolster its anti-graft efforts as part of its bid for EU membership.

Continue reading...

Mykola Solsky is first known minister under Volodymyr Zelenskiy to be named in a corruption case

“Radiation sees no borders or national flags,” Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on the anniversary of the Chernobyl disaster, which began on 26 April, 1986.

“For 785 days now, Russian terrorists have held hostage the Zaporizhzhia NPP,” the Ukrainian president said.

Continue reading...

First payments to be made during an ongoing conflict is ‘important step towards restoring justice’, says first lady, Olena Zelenska

The first reparation payments are to be made in the next few weeks to survivors of wartime rape by Russian soldiers during the invasion of Ukraine , in a move that Ukraine’s first lady, Olena Zelenska, called “an important step towards restoring justice”.

Up to 500 Ukrainian survivors of conflict-related sexual violence are being identified and awarded with interim reparations this year, including financial, medical and psychological support.

Continue reading...

Pentagon says it will help Ukrainians to adopt tactics that use M1A1 tanks more effectively. What we know on day 793

Continue reading...

After Poland and Lithuania said they are prepared to help Ukrainian authorities return men subject to military conscription, we want to hear how you feel about it

Poland and Lithuania have pledged to help Ukrainian authorities repatriate men subject to the military draft after Kyiv announced it is ending consular services for such men who are abroad.

We would like to speak with Ukrainian men living abroad about their views on this development. Whether you left Ukraine following Russia’s full-scale invasion or years before that, we want to hear how you feel about the statements and Kyiv’s suspension of consular services for émigrés.

Continue reading...