News And Information From Ukraine

Dispatches from Ukraine, provided by Forbes Ukraine’s editorial team.

As Russia’s attack on Ukraine continues and the war rages on, reliable sources of information are critical. Forbes Ukraine’s reporters gather information and provide updates on the situation.

Saturday, May 7. Day 73. By Daryna Antoniuk

Mariupol. All women, children, and elderly people have been evacuated from Mariupol’s Azovstal steel plant, according to Ukraine’s deputy prime minister Iryna Vereshchuk.

Ukrainian troops, including wounded soldiers, are still trapped inside the plant. Russians are using artillery and tank fire to attack Azovstal.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Friday he’s working to save the military forces that remain in the Azovstal plant.

Odesa. Six Russian missiles hit the southern Ukrainian port city of Odesa. No casualties have been reported so far.

Four missiles hit a private furniture company and damaged a high-rise building nearby. Two more missiles struck the previously damaged runway and the flight control system of Odesa airport.

Mykolaiv. Russian troops launched several missile strikes on the city of Mykolaiv on Saturday. No casualties were reported.

Sumy. Two Russian missiles hit Ukraine’s northern Sumy region near the border with Russia. A border guard was wounded by the strike.

Kharkiv. Intense fighting is continuing in the Kharkiv region as Ukraine tries to regain control of the area from the Russian forces. The Ukrainian operation is developing into a successful counter-offensive, a U.S. military think-tank told BBC.

On Saturday, Ukraine liberated the village of Tsyrkuny in Kharkiv Oblast.

Russian shelling destroyed a museum near Kharkiv dedicated to the Ukrainian 18th century philosopher and poet Hryhoriy Skovoroda. A staff member was injured during the shelling. The most valuable items in the museum had been moved earlier to a safer place. This year marks the 300th anniversary of the great philosopher’s birth. Russians destroyed the museum where Skovoroda worked for the last years of his life and where he was buried.

Donetsk. A Russian missile strike killed two and injured nine people in Kostiantynivka, in Donetsk Oblast.

Russia’s airstrike on Bakhmut in the Donetsk region killed one person and destroyed or damaged 13 houses.

Luhansk. Russian shelling of Pryvillia in the Luhansk region killed two boys aged 11 and 14. A woman and two other children were seriously injured.

Kherson. Russia plans to introduce the ruble and give Russian citizenship to Ukrainians in the occupied parts of Kherson Oblast, according to Ombudsman Lyudmyla Denisova.

Russian troops are “cleansing the region of people who threaten the occupation regime,” according to the deputy head of the Kherson Oblast administration Yurii Sobolevsky.

Over 500 Kherson residents are currently being held in torture chambers, Denisova said.

A Ukrainian Bayraktar drone has destroyed another Russian warship. “The traditional parade of the Russian Black Sea fleet on May 9 this year will be held near Snake Island – at the bottom of the sea,” said the Ukrainian ministry of defense.

U.S. President Joe Biden has announced another package of military assistance for Ukraine, this one worth $150 million. It includes counter-artillery radars used for detecting the source of enemy fire and electronic jamming equipment.

U.S. first lady Jill Biden met with Ukrainian refugees in Romania. Accompanied by Romanian first lady Carmen Iohannis, Biden visited the Uruguay School in Bucharest where she spoke to Ukrainian mothers and met with Ukrainian children.