In detail, officials in Kiev said today, Monday, that at least 5 people were injured in the Russian shelling of the city as Moscow launched another large-scale attack on Ukraine.
Kiev Mayor Vitaly Klitschko said on the Telegram app that 3 people were injured in explosions in the city’s Solomyansky district, and 2 others were injured when the wreckage of a drone fell on the Svyatoshin district, in the center of the capital.
Klitschko said the wreckage of a drone fell on a two-story building in the Svyatoshin district, adding that the explosions continued in Kiev.
The city’s military administration said the attacks caused destruction.
Reuters witnesses said they heard several explosions in Kyiv, and local officials reported air defense systems responding to the attacks.
A local official said an explosion was heard following a missile attack on the city of Odessa in the Black Sea overnight.
Ukrainian media reported that explosions were heard in the southern region of Kherson, as well as in Mykolayev.
Separately, Russian forces on Sunday shelled 8 sites in the Sumy region of northeastern Ukraine, according to the regional military administration in a Facebook post.
Bombardment of Bakhmut
On the other hand, the commander of the ground forces of the armed forces of Ukraine, Colonel Oleksandr Sersky, said that the Russians have increased the intensity of heavy weapon shelling on Bakhmut, adding that the Russians still hope to control Bakhmut from here on the ninth of May.
The commander of the Ukrainian ground forces indicated that Russia has not changed its plans and is doing everything in its power to control Bakhmut and continue the offensive.
Sirsky pointed out that as of today the defense forces managed to disrupt the enemy’s plans towards Bakhmut, but the Russians still hope to capture the town by May 9, so the task of the defense forces is to prevent that.
Wagner retires
On the same note, it appears that the Russian private military group, Wagner, changed its plans yesterday Sunday to withdraw from Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine, saying it had received promises to receive more arms of Moscow.
Wagner has indicated he may continue his attack on what Russia sees as a springboard to other cities in the Donbass region.
The founder of Wagner’s forces, Yevgeny Prigozhin, said on Friday that his fighters, who have been waging a ferocious attack on Bakhmut for months, will withdraw from the city after being starved of ammunition and suffering “unnecessary or justified” casualties in result.
But in an audio message posted to his Telegram channel on Sunday, Prigozhin said: “We have been promised to get all the ammunition and weapons we need to continue our operations. We were promised to send everything necessary to prevent the enemy from isolating us” from supplies.
A Defense Ministry spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment after Prigozhin’s latest comments.
Russian officials have sought to downplay concerns about their frontline forces being undersupplied.
Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said on Tuesday, referring to the Russian military in general, that it had “received enough ammunition” to effectively inflict casualties on enemy forces.
Prigozhin’s threats to withdraw from Bakhmut highlighted the strain on Russian forces as Ukraine finalizes preparations for a counterattack, backed by Western military supplies including thousands of armored vehicles as well than newly formed troops.
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