Ukraine Daily

Friday, 13 May 2022

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Russia’s war against Ukraine

The destroyed building is seen after Russian missiles hit residential area in the city of Kharkiv on May 8, 2022. (Kostyantyn Chernichkin)

Negotiations underway to evacuate Azovstal, starting with seriously wounded. Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk announced on May 12 that Red Cross and UN representatives are meeting with Russia to negotiate the evacuation of Ukrainian soldiers from Azovstal. Vereshchuk said ideally the rescue mission will have several stages, starting with the evacuation of the seriously wounded.

CNN: UN official warns Putin millions will die if Ukraine’s ports remain blocked. David Beasley, head of the United Nations World Food Program, told CNN that if Putin does not reopen Ukraine’s Black Sea ports in the next 60 days, it could cause a global hunger crisis and the total collapse of Ukraine’s economy. “If you have any heart at all for the rest of the world, regardless of how you feel about Ukraine, you need to open up those ports,” Beasley said.

UK Intelligence: Russia’s withdrawal from Kharkiv Oblast is recognition of its inability to capture key Ukrainian cities. According to the recent intelligence update by the U.K. Defense Ministry, Russia’s prioritization of operations in the Donbas has left elements deployed in the Kharkiv Oblast “vulnerable to the mobile, and highly motivated, Ukrainian counter-attacking force.” Therefore, despite Russia’s success in encircling Kharkiv in the initial stages of the war, it has reportedly withdrawn units from the oblast.

Reuters: War forces Ukraine to divert $8.3 billion to military spending. Ukraine has been forced to spend Hr 245.1 billion ($8.3 billion) on its war with Russia instead of development, according to Ukrainian Finance Minister Serhiy Marchenko. As a result of the war, the government only collected 60% of its planned tax revenue for April, Marchenko told Reuters in exclusive written comments. He said Kyiv is urgently in need of additional foreign support.

General Staff: Russian troops fail to seize new settlements in Donbas. Russian troops attempted to seize the village of Oleksandrivka in Donetsk Oblast and the village of Voyevodivka in Luhansk Oblast, Ukraine’s General Staff reports. All these attempts were unsuccessful on May 12, the General Staff added. According to media reports, Russian troops have been trying to cut off the Severodonetsk area in Luhansk Oblast, where fighting is the most intense, from the rest of the Ukrainian troops in the Donbas.

Russian missile hits Zaporizhzhia’s iconic Khortytsia Island. The attack did not damage any infrastructure, and no one was injured, but it caused a fire on the island, according to Zaporizhizha Oblast’s administration. Khortytsia, where the Zaporizhian Cossacks established one of their first strongholds, is a major historic landmark and is home to unique flora and fauna.

Ukrainian forces strike Russian military positions in south over 100 times on May 12. 57 Russian soldiers were killed and 60 units of equipment destroyed by the strikes, according to Ukraine’s Southern Operational Command. While Russia’s proxies in occupied Kherson seek annexation by Russia, the population continues to fly Ukrainian flags, the Command reported.

UN: Over six million Ukrainian refugees have fled the country since start of Russia’s full-scale invasion. According to the United Nations’ refugee agency, 6.03 million people had fled Ukraine as of May 11. Over 3.3 million people, predominantly women and children, have entered Poland. The latest data from the International Organization for Migration reported that more than 8 million Ukrainians have been displaced within the country.

Russia’s oil revenue rises 50%, enabling its aggression. According to a report published by the International Energy Agency, Russia has been making $20 billion a month from selling about 8 million barrels of crude oil and oil products a day since the beginning of this year.

Russian forces again attack Ukraine’s biggest oil refinery in Kremenchuk. Poltava Oblast Governor Dmytro Lunin said that Russians launched four missiles at the refinery on May 12. Explosions were reported in Poltava Oblast on the same day. The official said that the details of the attacks will be revealed later.

Official: Another Russian ship hit by Ukrainian navy near Zmiinyi Island. As a result of the attack, the 95-meter Vsevolod Bobrov, one of the newest ships of the Russian Navy, caught fire, according to Serhiy Bratchuk, a spokesman for the Odesa regional military administration. Currently, the vessel is allegedly heading for the city of Sevastopol in the annexed Crimea.

Governor: Ukrainian army destroys Russian troops, equipment as they try to cross river. Ukrainian troops defeated the Russians again on May 12 as they set up a pontoon bridge across the Siversky Donets River in the village of Bilohorivka, Luhansk Oblast, the region’s Governor Serhiy Gaidai said. Russian troops had also been destroyed in the same village on May 11. Gaidai said the Ukrainian army had destroyed a total of 70 units of equipment and killed dozens of Russian troops in Bilohorivka.

Ukraine halts evacuation from Sievierodonetsk, Luhansk Oblast, due to Russian shelling. The town’s mayor Oleksandr Striuk said the authorities will resume evacuation as soon as the shelling stops. According to the official, up to 15,000 residents remain in Sievierodonetsk.

Russian official threatens military attacks against Finland, Sweden. Dmitry Polyansky, a deputy representative of Russia at the United Nations, said that Sweden and Finland joining NATO would turn them into enemy countries. “They know that the moment they become members of NATO it will imply certain mirror moves on the Russian side,” he told the unherd.com news site. “If there are NATO detachments in those territories, these territories would become a target — or a possible target — for a strike.” Finland and Sweden have considered joining NATO to boost their defense since Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine in February.

Russia’s Medvedev threatens NATO with nuclear war over helping Ukraine. Russian ex-President Dmitry Medvedev, now deputy chairman of the security council, said that “NATO countries pumping weapons into Ukraine, training troops to use Western equipment, sending in mercenaries, and the exercises of Alliance countries near our borders increase the likelihood of a direct and open conflict between NATO and Russia,” which “can turn into a nuclear war.”

Russia’s Gazprom stops gas transit through Poland to Europe. The move follows Russia’s May 11 decision to impose sanctions against 31 European companies, including EuRoPol, which owns a 680-kilometer section of the Yamal–Europe gas pipeline in Poland. Most of the sanctioned companies are linked to Gazprom Germania, a Gazprom affiliate that was temporarily put under German state control last month. In April, Russian state-controlled gas monopoly Gazprom also halted gas supplies to Polish energy company PGNiG following Poland’s refusal to pay for gas in rubles and amid its strong support for Ukraine.

The human cost of Russia’s war

Schemes: Satellite pictures show expansion of mass graves near Mariupol. The Planet Labs satellite has recorded changes in two villages in Donetsk Oblast northwest of the Russian-occupied Mariupol, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty’s Schemes investigative project reported. The mass grave in Stariy Krym’s cemetery has almost doubled in size and reached 340 meters. The graves are growing due to the hundreds of civilians killed by Russian troops, the Mariupol City Council said.

UN Human Rights Commissioner: Civilian casualties in Mariupol in thousands. Michelle Bachelet said thousands of civilians were killed in besieged Mariupol, and the true scale of the alleged Russian atrocities is yet to be revealed. It has been difficult for the UN to access and collect data in the city due to intense hostilities, she said. Mariupol Mayor Vadym Boychenko earlier said Russian forces killed over 20,000 Mariupol residents.

Number of wounded people rises to 19 as a result of Russian attack in Chernihiv Oblast. The Russian military fired several missiles at two schools in the city of Novhorod-Siversky, Chernihiv Oblast on May 12, killing three people. The number of victims has increased by 7 during the day, said Andriy Podorvan, an adviser to the regional governor.

Prosecutor General’s Office: One killed in Russian attack on Dnipropetrovsk Oblast. Russian forces shelled Velyka Kostromka village with cluster munitions on May 12, destroying a local energy facility and killing one person. The use of cluster bombs targeting civilians may constitute a war crime, according to Amnesty International.

Ukraine’s Armed Forces reports 180 Russian soldiers killed, 6 attacks repelled in east on May 12. Ukraine’s Operational Tactical Group “East” reported that on May 12 Ukrainian forces destroyed six tanks, six infantry fighting vehicles, two armored personnel carriers, two multi-purpose light-armored towing vehicles, three self-propelled artillery units, one multiple rocket-launcher, four mortars, and one artillery tractor.

Governor: Russians shell Sumy Oblast 20 times, one person killed. Sumy Oblast Governor Dmytro Zhyvytsky said Russian forces fired from heavy artillery 20 times at the village Novi Vyrky, one person was killed as a result of the attack.

International response

Austrian Chancellor: Austria could confiscate Gazprom storage facility if Russia fails to supply gas. Austrian Chancellor Karl Negammer made the statement in an interview on May 12 with the newspaper Kronen Zeitung. The storage facility near Salzburg is the largest in Austria and the second in Central Europe and is currently empty, Kronen Zeitung reported. Earlier, Austria refused to comply with Russia’s demands EU countries pay for gas in rubles.

Bloomberg: EU starts to consider delaying oil sanctions as Hungary hardens stance. Delaying a ban on Russian oil in the next EU sanctions package against Russia is gaining support among EU nations, which Hungary has said would be too damaging to its economy, Bloomberg reports, citing EU diplomats. EU governments are still, however, pushing for an agreement on the full package by Monday, when EU foreign ministers will meet in Brussels.

UN to start investigation into Russia’s violations of human rights in Ukraine. The United Nations Human Rights Council voted in favor of tightening control over the “deteriorating human rights situation in Ukraine stemming from the Russian aggression.” Although 33 countries voted in favor of the resolution, China and Eritrea voted against it.

UK calls for additional sanctions on Russia. U.K. Foreign Secretary Liz Truss called on allies to implement further sanctions against Russia until it entirely withdraws from Ukraine and agrees to peace, according to a U.K. statement following a meeting of G7 Foreign Ministers in Germany on May 12, CNN reports. Truss also stated that NATO countries should plan to supply Ukraine with NATO-standard equipment by the end of the summer, as well as the necessary training and expertise.

EU spokesman: Gas payments under Putin’s scheme will breach sanctions. Tim McPhee, a spokesman for the European Commission, said that the EU’s position on Gazprom’s demand to pay for gas in rubles remains unchanged. Russia has demanded that European companies pay for gas in rubles in violation of their gas supply contracts. After they refused, the Kremlin came up with a scheme under which buyers are obliged to deposit euros or dollars into an account at Russia’s Gazprombank, which has to convert them into rubles and transfer the payment to Russian gas giant Gazprom. But McPhee said the scheme would breach EU sanctions because it involves Russia’s central bank, which has been sanctioned by the European Union.

EU leaders to discuss Ukraine’s application to join EU in June. According to the French Foreign Ministry, Ukraine’s application for membership in the European Union is currently being examined by the European Commission and will be discussed at an EU summit in June.

In other news

Kyiv Independent’s chief editor featured on the TIME cover. Olga Rudenko was included in TIME’s 2022 list of Next Generation Leaders, the U.S. magazine’s special series celebrating young people from different fields and around the globe “who are working to build a better world.” “Our international cover features one of these leaders, Olga Rudenko, the enterprising 33-year-old editor in chief of the Kyiv Independent, a startup that has quickly become the world’s primary source for reliable English-language journalism on the war in Ukraine.”

Ukrposhta: Zelensky stamp issued in Poland sold ‘within an hour.’ The Polish postal service has issued 99 sets of postage stamps with President Volodymyr Zelensky’s portrait, selling them for around $1,200 for a set, Ukraine’s postal service Ukrposhta reported. According to Ukrposhta, the stamps were sold out within an hour. The money will be used to purchase humanitarian aid for Ukraine.

Want to get the news faster? Follow our website: kyivindependent.com.

Today’s Ukraine Daily was brought to you by Thaisa Semenova, Daria Shulzenko, Natalia Datskevych, Lucy Minicozzi-Wheeland, Oleg Sukhov, Olena Goncharova, Toma Istomina, Lili Bivings, and Brad LaFoy.

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