May 6, 2024
Ukraine war in the live ticker
+++ 03:30 EU Commission is considering sanctions against Voice of Europe ++++++
The EU Commission is proposing to include the Voice of Europe news portal in the upcoming 14th round of EU sanctions against Russia, says European Commission Vice President Vera Jourova, European Pravda reports. Jourova says the news portal was used to interfere in the European elections. Earlier this month, the Czech government uncovered a Moscow-funded propaganda network that sought to influence European politics and turn public opinion against support for Ukraine. Prague named Viktor Medvedchuk, a Kremlin-linked former Ukrainian oligarch, and Artem Marchevskyi, a media executive who formerly worked at one of Medvedchuk’s TV channels, as those behind the operation. Their activities ran through the website Voice of Europe, where they promoted pro-Russian narratives and paid pro-Moscow politicians in the run-up to the European Parliament elections.
+++ 02:07 Ukraine: Russian forces attack energy infrastructure in Sumy Oblast +++
Russian forces carried out a drone attack on the energy infrastructure of the Sumy region overnight, according to the military administration of the Sumy region. The Ukrainian Air Force reported a drone attack on the Sumy region around midnight (local time). Shortly afterwards, local media reported that electricity and running water were out in parts of the region. Within an hour, the Sumy military administration said that Russia had carried out airstrikes on the Sumy region’s energy facilities and that restoration work was underway.
+++ 00:36 Armaments Forum in Brussels starts +++
More than 350 representatives of the European and Ukrainian defense industry and politicians will meet in Brussels on Monday morning. The aim of the armaments forum is closer cooperation in the Russian war of aggression. Ukraine is hoping for additional deliveries of air defense systems, weapons and ammunition. The EU Commission describes the forum as the first step towards implementing a defense strategy presented in March. In this way, Brussels wants to promote the European arms industry and make the member states more independent of the USA and other international arms suppliers. Ukraine should be closely involved in the plans.
+++ 23:30 Rheinmetall boss promises to deliver “hundreds of thousands” of grenades to Kiev +++
German weapons manufacturer Rheinmetall will deliver “hundreds of thousands” of shells to Ukraine in 2024, including prototype artillery shells with a range of 100 kilometers, says Rheinmetall boss Armin Papperger, Handelsblatt reports. “The artillery is the game changer,” says Papperger at an event organized by the Association of Business Journalists at the Düsseldorf Industrial Club.
+++ 22:17 Army group on the situation near Chassiv Yar: Russia is gathering up to 25,000 soldiers +++
Leading members of the Ukrainian military assume that Russia wants to advance to the strategically important Chasiv Yar in eastern Ukraine in the coming days. Russia has massed up to 25,000 soldiers in the Chasiv Yar area, Nazar Voloshy, spokesman for the Khortytsia army group fighting in the area, said on television, according to the Ukrinform news agency. He believes that the Russians want to take advantage of the window of opportunity until new Western weapons arrive in Ukraine. The situation on the front has worsened in the last week.
You can read all previous developments here.