Monday, May 6

Russia’s war against Ukraine

Russian forces struck a residential area in downtown Kharkiv on May 5, 2024, injuring at least 15 people on Orthodox Easter Sunday, according to local authorities. (Kharkiv Oblast Prosecutor’s Office/Telegram)

Official: Russia hits power plant in Donetsk Oblast. Russian forces struck the Sloviansk Thermal Power Plant in Donetsk Oblast with five heavy artillery rockets, damaging several sites at the power plant, deputy head of Mykolaivka City Military Administration Volodymyr Proskunin said on May 5.

Military intelligence confirms car bomb attack killing Russian organizer of torture chambers in Berdiansk. Russian officials, their proxies, and collaborators have been routinely targeted in both occupied parts of Ukraine and inside Russia.

BBC: Russia lures Cubans to army with offers of high pay, Russian passport. Leaked documents reveal that Russia has been coercing Cuban citizens into the Russian Armed Forces with salaries of approximately $2,000 per month, in addition to offers of a Russian passports within months of signing up, a BBC investigation revealed on May 4.

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Energy Minister: Russian attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure cause over $1 billion in damage. The most damage was caused by the attacks on electricity transmission facilities, as well as thermal and hydro generation ones, according to Herman Halushchenko.

Defense Ministry: Medical commission members can no longer use own discretion on conscripts’ eligibility. Members of the Military Medical Examination Commission can no longer use their own discretion when determining a person’s eligibility for the military, the Defense Ministry said on May 4.

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Ukraine war latest: US aid will help launch counteroffensive in 2025, Sullivan says

Ukraine will look to launch a counteroffensive in 2025 with the support of the approved $61 billion aid package from the United States, as well as additional Western funding, U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan told the Financial Times on May 4.

Photo: Roman Pilipey/AFP via Getty Images

Human cost of war

Russian attacks in Kharkiv Oblast kill 1, injure 2. Shelling in the village of Monachynivka in Kharkiv Oblast’s Kupiansk district caused a fire at a house, killing an 88-year-old woman and injuring a 34-year-old man. A resident of the village of Kivsharivka was also injured in an attack.

Update: Russian glide bomb attack injures 15 in downtown Kharkiv. Russian forces hit two sites in the residential area of Kharkiv as Ukraine marked Orthodox Easter.

Russian drone attack on Donetsk Oblast village injures 3 people. Russian forces attacked the village of Mykhailivka in Donetsk Oblast’s Pokrovsk district on May 5, injuring three people, the regional prosecutor’s office reported.

Russian attacks across Ukraine kill 4 people, injure 19 over past day. Russian forces targeted nine of Ukraine’s oblasts – Chernihiv, Zaporizhzhia, Mykolaiv, Dnipropetrovsk, Sumy, Odesa, Kherson, Kharkiv, and Donetsk. Casualties were reported in the latter four regions.

General Staff: Russia has lost 474,260 troops in Ukraine since Feb. 24, 2022. This number includes 860 casualties Russian forces suffered over the past day.

Inside embattled Chasiv Yar, Russia’s next target

International response

Media: Chinese leader wants to work with international community to end war in Ukraine. China wants to work with France and the rest of the international community to end the war in Ukraine, Chinese President Xi Jinping reportedly told French media outlet Le Figaro on May 5.

Rheinmetall CEO promises to send Kyiv ‘hundreds of thousands’ of shells this year. The German arms manufacturer Rheinmetall will supply Ukraine with “hundreds of thousands” of shells in 2024, including prototypes of artillery shells with a range of 100 kilometers, CEO Armin Papperger said.

Switzerland invites pope to global peace summit. Switzerland has invited Pope Francis to attend the upcoming global peace summit dedicated to ending the war in Ukraine, Swiss President Viola Amherd said on May 5.

Czechia, Estonia will not attend Putin’s inauguration on May 7. Representatives of Czechia and Estonia will not be in attendance for Russian President Vladimir Putin’s upcoming presidential inauguration, the foreign ministers of the respective countries confirmed on May 5.

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Today’s Ukraine Daily was brought to you by Nate Ostiller, Kateryna Denisova, Chris York, Lili Bivings, Oleksiy Sorokin, Toma Istomina, Rachel Amran, and Dmytro Basmat.

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