Russian invasion of Ukraine: tanks and rocket attacks on the cities. Breaking news

The Western artillery sent to Ukraine will reshape the war with Russia, Washington Post reports, citing US officials and war analysts.

Russian and Ukrainian troops currently trade fire using similar artillery systems, some dating back to the Soviet era. The introduction of diverse Western artillery will speed up both sides’ tactical shift to the so-called counter-battery war, in which military forces identify the enemy artillery, pinpoint its location, and then attack. The analysts believe Ukraine will thus get substantial advantage.

The start time for the evacuation from Mariupol tomorrow, 2 May, was pushed forward by one hour to 7 AM, Head of Donetsk Regional Military Administration Pavlo Kyrylenko informs. The assembly point is unchanged—the Port City mall.

The US Republican congressman Adam Kinzinger has introduced a resolution to authorize the US President to send the US troops to Ukraine if Russia uses nuclear, biological, or chemical weapons against Ukrainian forces.

On 1 May, Ukrainian defenders from the East operative and tactical group fended off five attacks of the aggressor, destroying 57 enemy personnel and 26 Russian equipment.

The sources of the UK’s The Times in the Ukrainian intelligence believe that Russia has developed clear-cut plans for the invasion of Moldova.

Angelina Jolie visited the Harmoniia children’s education and rehabilitation centre in Boryslav, Lviv Region.

Photo: Harmoniia children’s education and rehabilitation centre

Ukraine will be granted access to LNG terminals in Poland and the Baltic countries, CEO of Gas Transmission System Operator of Ukraine Sergiy Makogon informs.

According to his information, a tanker ship with LNG for Poland will arrive at the Klaipėda terminal within days.

The Ukrainian troops have fended off 10 enemy attacks in Donbas today. The Armed Forces of Ukraine destroyed 2 tanks, 17 artillery systems, 38 armoured equipment, and 10 motor vehicles of the invaders.

The driver of the evacuation bus that came under fire in Popasna is alive, Head of the Luhansk Regional State Administration Serhii Haidai informs. The Russian troops took him captive and forced him to participate in their propaganda efforts.

The occupiers keep shelling the Kharkiv Region: today, their target was Kharkiv’s residential quarters, specifically Saltivka. Also, they shelled Bohodukhiv, Zolochiv, and Mala Danylivka, Head of the Kharkiv Region Oleh Synehubov informs. Three people were killed, and eight civilians were injured as a result of the shelling.

The situation was the tensest in the Izyum direction, where the enemy kept trying to advance. Owing to the effective actions of our defenders, the Russians’ attempts were vain—the invaders suffered heavy losses in personnel and equipment again. Besides, the aggressor shelled the positions of the Armed Forces of Ukraine near Udy and Prudianka and suffered heavy casualties near the village of Staryi Saltiv.

The Russian forces opened fire on Azovstal from all kinds of weapons again as soon as the evacuation of a part of civilians was completed, Commander of the 12th Operational Brigade of the National Guard of Ukraine Denys Shleha, who is currently in Mariupol, said during on the air of the national news marathon.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz criticized the pacifist view on the war in Ukraine while speaking at the 1 May rally in Düsseldorf.

He said he respected pacifism of any kind, “but Ukrainian citizens will find it cynical if they are told to defend from Russian aggression without weapons”. Also, Scholz promised to continue supporting Ukraine with money and arms.

State Border Guard Service of Ukraine reports the number of people entering Ukraine via the western border has increased to 40,000, reaching a peak since the beginning of Russia’s full-on invasion of Ukraine.

The number of people leaving the country has remained at yesterday’s 38,000, falling below the inbound count for the first time since 24 April.

The Azov Regiment has shared a unique video of the current civilian evacuation operation in Mariupol.

The Armed Forces of Ukraine have vanquished a battalion tactical group of the Russian troops and destroyed its command HQ.

Video: Radio Svoboda

1 травня на Харківщині була розбита батальйонно тактична група російських військ. ЗСУ вдалось знищити командний пункт управління. На відео, наданому «Схемам» (Радіо Свобода) - результати роботи українських артилеристів pic.twitter.com/43JLqSIrZk

— Схеми: корупція в деталях (@cxemu) May 1, 2022

Zelenskyy: “The installations that Russia targets once again prove that the war against Ukraine is an extermination war for the Russian army. They struck at our agricultural companies’ warehouses. They destroyed a grain warehouse. They opened fire on a train carrying fertilizers. They continue shelling the residential quarters in the Kharkiv Region, Donbas, and such.

They are building up forces in the south of our country to launch an attack on the Ukrainian cities and communities in the Dnipropetrovsk Region.

“We have had almost a four-hour-long very substantive meeting with Mrs Pelosi, and a multi-aspect one at that, as the saying goes. Specifically, we discussed defence procurements, macrofinancial assistance, and political interaction with the United States of America,” Zelenskyy said.

Zelenskyy: Provision of such relief corridors is still among the elements of the negotiation process. And this process is complicated. However, despite all odds, we managed to save over 350,000 people from the areas of hostilities.

President Zelenskyy’s latest address:

“Hopefully, tomorrow all the conditions will be met to continue the evacuation of people from Mariupol. We are planning to start at 8 AM.”

As of 1 May, about 835 localities with about 697,200 households have no electricity. The worst situation with electricity supply is currently seen in the Donetsk, Kharkiv, and Luhansk regions.

Also, gas supply was disrupted to 208,000 households, with the Zaporizhzhia, Kyiv, Chernihiv, Mykolaiv, and Kharkiv regions suffering the most.

Tomorrow, 2 May, bus routes from Kyiv to Hostomel, Lubianka, and Shybeno will be relaunched, the Office of the President of Ukraine informs.

The Ministry of Internal Affairs cannot yet confirm the information about the Chief of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces Valery Gerasimov suffering an injury under Izyum, Advisor to the Minister of Internal Affairs Viktor Andrusiv said during the national news marathon:

“We have verified that he was there, near Izyum, but cannot say for sure if he was injured. Besides, we already have some proofs that he, in fact, wasn’t.”

Poland is willing to become one of the guarantors of Ukraine’s safety but won’t support any treaty, under which Ukraine would have to give up even a part of its territory, Foreign Policy Advisor to the President of Poland Jakub Kumoch said.

He also added that Poland wants Russia to be utterly defeated, because any other outcome would lead to another war.

Germany is ready to entirely block Russian oil imports by the end-summer of 2022.

“Whether it likes it or not, the official Moscow will have to accept the new reality: Unlike Russia, Ukraine can call on ‘the world’s most popular ambassador’. Even the marginal stars of the foreign show business don’t want to be associated with the Russian regime,” the Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs commented on the Russian Federation’s outcry in response to Angelina Jolie’s visit to Ukraine.

Also, it added that the rehabilitation of Russia in the eyes of the international creative community is impossible now: “Whatever the official Moscow does to tarnish the purpose of the Hollywood star’s visit, the world has seen enough proofs of the atrocities the Putinist Russia committed during the war in Ukraine. The only thing they have left to do is import substitution, even if it takes bringing Iosif Kobzon back from the dead.”

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UN OCHA) in Ukraine informs that the evacuation of people from Azovstal began on Friday, 29 April, with the departure of the joint UN/ICRC convoy, which went about 230 km before it reached the plant in Mariupol on Saturday morning.

“As the operations are still ongoing, we will not provide further details at this point, to guarantee the safety of the civilians and humanitarians in the convoy” the OCHA‘s message reads.

Ukraine and Russia have agreed that the civilians sheltering at Azovstal will be evacuated to the Zaporizhzhia region. The organisation informed that they will get urgent humanitarian assistance, including psychological counselling. UN will also make every effort to ensure safe passage from Mariupol for all civilians willing to leave the city.

Brussels mayor Philippe Klose has visited severely injured Ukrainians evacuated to Lviv, the city's mayor, Andriy Sadovyy, has said: "Recorded our medical needs. We agreed to provide the necessary equipment and rehabilitation abroad".

Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba held a conversation with EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell.

According to the foreign minister, it was possible to discuss the next round of EU sanctions against Russia, which should include an oil embargo as well as the evacuation of people from blockaded Mariupol.

Centres for providing administrative services will resume their work in Kyiv Region, the head of the Kyiv regional military administration, Oleksandr Pavlyuk, has said. In particular, there are already service centres in the towns of Bucha, Gostomel, Slavutych and the village of Bolshaya Dymyrka previously occupied by Russian troops. A total of 49 CPASs already operate in the region.

"Now the CPASs provide social services, civil registration services, as well as services of structural subdivisions of executive committees of local councils," Pavlyuk said, adding that the number of services will grow.

Pope Francis during Sunday's sermon in St Peter's Square called the war in Ukraine a blight on humanity. He said he is "suffering and weeping" because of it. 

The remains of a downed Russian aircraft used by the occupiers in the war against Ukraine have been installed as an exhibit near the National Military Historical Museum of Ukraine on Mykhaylo Hrushevskyy Street, the Centre for Strategic Communications has said. 

The Su-25SM aircraft was shot down by the Ukrainian Armed Forces on 2 March and went down near the village of Vyshegrad - the occupiers probably used it to drop shells on Irpin.

Just as Putin chose to launch this brutal invasion, he could make the choice to end it.

Russia is the aggressor, and the world must and will hold Russia accountable.

— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) May 1, 2022

A woman was killed and two other people were wounded as a result of the shelling of the Bohoduhiv community by the Russian military, the Kharkiv regional prosecutor's office has said. According to the investigators, the occupants shelled the community at around 11:30 a.m. on 1 May. A car with three people in it came under fire.

General Staff summary at 18:00 of the 67th day of the war:

• The enemy continues full-scale aggression and offensive in the eastern operating zone.
• The enemy has not taken any active action in the Volyn and Polesk directions. The threat of missile attacks on military and civilian infrastructure remains.
• In the Siversky direction, the enemy shelled Ukrainian positions near Senkivka, having previously conducted reconnaissance UAVs. Demonstration actions along the Ukrainian state border and resumption of shelling of our units and infrastructure in the border areas cannot be ruled out.
• In the Slobozhansky direction, the enemy shelled the positions of the Defence Forces with mortars in the areas of Udy and Prudyanka settlements. The Russian occupants also suffered losses near the village of Stary Saltiv.
• In the Izyum direction, the enemy attempted to conduct offensive actions, but had no success and suffered losses in manpower and equipment.
• The enemy attempted to establish full control over Rubizhne and Popasna in the Donetsk and Tavriya directions, with no success and also suffering losses. The occupants unsuccessfully stormed Ozernoye and Marinka. The enemy also suffered casualties near Vremivka and Zelene Pole.
• In the South Bug direction the enemy is trying to reach the administrative boundaries of Kherson Region and create favourable conditions for an offensive on Mykolaiv and Kryvyi Rih. The main efforts of the occupants are concentrated in the Kryvyy Rig direction. They fired artillery at the positions of our units in the areas of Tavriya, Osokorovka, Trudolyubovka and Knyazhevka. The enemy is regrouping its units in the Mykolayiv direction.

In the Russian town of Kursk, a railway bridge structure has partially collapsed. The regional governor has already claimed it was the result of a "sabotage".

The information about the start of the evacuation of Ukrainians from the Azovstal plant was also confirmed by the Mariupol city council. The evacuation of people in other parts of the city was postponed for safety reasons until tomorrow, 2 May. It will start at 08:00 near the PortCity shopping mall, they said.

Extensive military exercises with representatives of five European armies and the US began in Poland

The construction of temporary housing for pregnant internally displaced persons has already started in Lviv, Mayor Andriy Sadovyy said.

"The housing format is different from the modular camps, already now accepting IDPs. There are separate bedrooms and bathrooms, but common spaces for recreation and cooking."

Ukrainian intelligence reports the occupiers are kicking patients out of hospitals and forcing medical personnel to treat only "their own". The occupiers are also removing all serviceable equipment from hospitals, in particular, ventilators.

Iryna Vereshchuk and David Arahamia also reported on the successful evacuation of over 100 Mariupol residents from Azovstal to Ukrainian-controlled territory. The deputy prime minister apologised for the long silence and stressed that one should not listen to and believe the publications in the occupier's publicity boards, instead "hear and listen to us".

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy also announced the start of the evacuation of Azovstal:

Розпочалася евакуація цивільних з Азовсталі. Перша група приблизно зі 100 осіб уже прямує на підконтрольну територію. Завтра зустрічатимемо їх у Запоріжжі. Дякую нашій команді! Нині вони, разом з представниками #ООН, працюють над евакуацією решти цивільних із території заводу.

— Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) May 1, 2022

The UN has confirmed that an operation to evacuate people from the Azovstal steelmaking plant is under way together with the IRC Red Cross. This was reported by UN humanitarian representative Swiano Abreu in an Associatedе Press commentary. 

Ukrzaliznytsya has warned of temporary disruptions due to cyber attacks by Russians. But they stressed that ticket offices at the stations were working and trains were running on schedule.

To date, the Prosecutor-General's Office has opened 9,158 proceedings to investigate war crimes. This was reported by Prosecutor-General Iryna Venediktova during a national TV marathon.

The Russian occupant fleet has become more active in the Black Sea. This was reported in a daily noon report by an officer of the South Operational Command, Vladyslav Nazarov.

More than 50 civilians from Azovstal's territory have been taken to an occupied village in Donetsk Region by Russians. This was reported by Reuters. The people were driven in buses with Ukrainian number plates, accompanied by a Russian military convoy and cars with UN insignia.

Mariupol residents evacuated in "DNR" filtration camp in Bezymyannyi. The locality is under temporary occupation by Russian troops.

Svetlana Tihanovskaya, leader of the Belarusian opposition, is sympathetic to the fact that Zelenskyy is not planning to meet her yet. The oppositionist believes that the main task now is to defeat tyranny, and their meeting with the president of Ukraine is yet to come. Tikhanovska said this in an interview with the Voice of America. 

Mongolia is not ready to join the global sanctions against Russia. This was stated by the Mongolian Ministry of Foreign Affairs in response to a call by Japan's foreign minister to join the international pressure on the aggressor country. Kyodo writes about it.