As the war enters its 806th day, these are the key developments.
This is the situation on Friday, May 10, 2024.
Fighting
- Two people were killed in Russian bombing of the southern Ukrainian city of Nikopol, while Ukraine’s Air Force said air defense systems destroyed 17 of 20 Russian attack drones targeting the southern Odesa region. No casualties were reported in these attacks.
- Eight people were injured and dozens of buildings damaged in a Ukrainian airstrike on Belgorod, Russia, regional governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said.
- President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Ukraine’s army faced “a really difficult situation” against Russian forces on the eastern front, but that the US $61 billion military aid package was coming and would turn the tide.
- Ukraine’s state energy company Ukridroenergo said two hydroelectric plants were no longer operating after Russian attacks earlier this week caused “devastating damage.”
- Unnamed intelligence sources in Kiev told news agencies Reuters and AFP that a Ukrainian drone hit a major oil refinery in the Russian region of Bashkortostan on Thursday, about 1,500 km (932 miles) away, in the attack by greatest reach since the start of the full-scale offensive on Moscow. invasion.
- Russia’s emergency services said a building at Gazprom’s Neftekhim Salavat oil, petrochemical and fertilizer processing complex in Bashkortostan was damaged, state news agency RIA reported.
Politics and diplomacy
- Ukrainian President Zelenskyy fired the head of the state guard, the unit that provides protection to senior officials, after intelligence services said two of its members were involved in a Russian plot to assassinate him.
- Zelenskyy appointed Brigadier General Oleksandr Trepak as commander of Ukraine’s special forces, replacing Colonel Serhiy Lupanchuk. It is the second time in six months that the president has changed the head of the unit operating in Russian-occupied territories. No reason was given.
- The popular former Ukrainian army chief Valerii Zaluzhnyi, who led Ukraine’s defense in the first two years of Moscow’s full-scale invasion, has been appointed Kiev’s ambassador to the United Kingdom. The previous ambassador was fired in July 2023 after criticizing the president.
- Ukraine’s parliament supported a bill to crack down on those who dodge the voted project. The legislation includes increased fines for anyone caught trying to avoid the draft and allows authorities to detain draft dodgers for up to three days.
- Speaking at Russia’s Victory Day military parade, President Vladimir Putin accused “arrogant” Western elites of forgetting the decisive role played by the Soviet Union in defeating Nazi Germany in World War II and fueling conflicts around the world. Putin ordered Russia’s full-scale invasion of neighboring Ukraine in February 2022. Moscow currently occupies about 18 percent of the country.
- South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol said Seoul would maintain strong ties with Ukraine and a “soft” relationship with Russia, but ruled out direct arms shipments to Kiev.
Weapons
- German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said Ukraine’s Western allies would deliver three more high-mobility artillery rocket systems (HIMARS). The system can launch multiple guided missiles in quick succession.
This story originally appeared on Aljazeera.com read the full story
