Ukraine war in the live ticker: +++ 05:30 Report: Ukrainians in the Kherson region have to evacuate their houses ++++

May 2, 2024

Ukraine war in the live ticker
+++ 05:30 Report: Ukrainians in Kherson region have to vacate their houses ++++

According to Ukrainian information, the Russian occupiers are carrying out forced evacuations in the Kherson region. This is what the news portal reports “Ukrainian Pravda” citing the “Center of National Resistance” under the Ministry of Defense. It is said that residents from the affected villages are being accommodated under precarious conditions in settlements in the south of the region and in Crimea. You are only allowed to take hand luggage with you. The evacuated houses and apartments would be given to Russians and employees of the Russian administration.

+++ 04:42 Ukrainian secret service: Nepalese mercenaries flee from Russian unit +++
A number of mercenaries from Nepal fighting for Russia are said to have deserted. Ukrainian military intelligence claims they fled in droves. The secret service writes that there had previously been high losses among the Nepalese mercenaries because they were used as “cannon fodder”. Russian commanders also executed mercenaries if they refused orders. The mercenaries were also not paid the promised salary. The mercenaries are said to have served in a unit in the Luhansk region. Ukrainian intelligence writes that Russian soldiers search for them, but are usually unsuccessful. The information cannot be independently verified.

+++ 03:05 USA accuses Russia of using banned weapons +++
The USA accuses Russia of violating the global ban on chemical weapons. The Russian army used the lung weapon chloropicrin against Ukrainian troops, says the US State Department. This is not an isolated case. The Russian army probably wanted to use this to force the Ukrainian armed forces out of fortified positions. There is no statement from Russia yet. Moscow, for its part, also accuses the Ukrainian armed forces of using banned chemical weapons. The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) lists chloropicrin as a banned substance. Germany used the gas in the First World War.

+++ 02:19 At least 13 injured in attack on Odessa +++
According to Ukrainian information, around a dozen people were injured in the latest Russian missile attack on the Ukrainian port city of Odessa. The mayor of Odessa, Hennadiy Trukhanov, said on Telegram that civilian infrastructure had been destroyed and that 13 were injured. The governor of the Odessa region, Oleh Kiper, spoke of 14 injured. Among other things, a postal warehouse was damaged.

+++ 01:30 Zelensky announces new security agreements +++
Ukrainian President Zelenskyy announces the conclusion of several new security agreements. “We are preparing seven new security documents for our country – bilateral security agreements,” Zelensky said in his daily video address, “including with the USA.” The details regarding arms deliveries, financial aid and political cooperation are currently being worked out. The contracts supported the country this year and the next and represented the security architecture until the desired NATO accession. “Of course, everything that offers more protection against Russian terror has special priority,” said Zelensky.

+++ 00:08 Kursk border region: Governor reports drone attack +++
A Ukrainian drone attack damaged cables in the Russian border region of Kursk and paralyzed the power supply in the small town of Poniri. This was announced by the region’s governor, Roman Starowoit, on Telegram. The drone was shot down. Repair teams are already on site to restore power. The information cannot be independently verified +++

+++ 23:00 Rocket attack on Odessa: major fire in the harbor +++
According to local media reports, a major fire broke out in the port of the Ukrainian city of Odessa after a rocket hit. According to one of the reports, a warehouse belonging to the shipping company Nowa Poschta was hit. The region’s governor, Oleh Kiper, says at least 13 people were injured. Images and videos circulating online show flames and columns of smoke rising into the sky. There have been Russian rocket attacks on Odessa in the last two days, in which a total of seven people died.

+++ 22:15 Ukrainian exports reach record volume +++
According to Economy Minister Yulia Svyrydenko, Ukrainian exports are back to pre-war levels. In April, 13.1 million tons of goods were exported – this is even a record value. The export volume has therefore exceeded that of February 2022 of 12.8 million tons, reports Kiev. This was made possible, among other things, by the establishment of a lake corridor last summer.

+++ 21:49 Kremlin shows off captured tanks +++
Since Wednesday, Western-made tanks captured in Ukraine have been on display on the grounds of a World War memorial in Moscow. On display are a Leopard 2 main battle tank and a Marder infantry fighting vehicle from Germany as well as American M1 Abrams and Bradley tanks. According to a BBC reporter Over 30 armored vehicles will be presented. The exhibition, organized by the Russian Ministry of Defense, is scheduled to remain open throughout May. “We should all see the enemy’s battered equipment,” says Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov. Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova also calls on Western diplomats in Moscow to view the exhibition to see for themselves how “the West is destroying peace on the planet.”

+++ 21:13 Zelenskyj dismisses high-ranking intelligence officer +++
In the middle of the war, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky fired Ilya Vityuk, a high-ranking official in the domestic secret service SBU, against the backdrop of corruption allegations. Vityuk headed the SBU’s counterintelligence department in the area of ​​cybersecurity. The reasons for the dismissal are not mentioned in the relevant presidential decree. Ukrainian media had previously published an investigation according to which Vityuk’s wife is said to have bought a luxury apartment in the center of Kiev. Vityuk had already been placed on leave before his dismissal.

+++ 20:52 Donetsk region: dead and injured in Russian attack +++
Two people were killed in a Russian attack on the town of Hirnyk, writes the governor of the Donetsk region. According to initial findings, six others were injured. The number of victims could still rise. The fatalities are a 57-year-old and a 64-year-old.

+++ 20:22 Georgia’s parliament approves “Russian law” +++
Despite weeks of protests in the country and criticism from Brussels, Georgia’s parliament passes the law on “foreign influence” in its second reading. It stipulates that organizations that receive at least 20 percent of their funding from abroad must register officially in Georgia. Critics see clear parallels in this with the law against “foreign agents” in Russia, which allows the authorities there to take massive action against critical media and organizations. In the evening, tens of thousands of people protested again against the law. Georgia has been a candidate for EU membership since December; Brussels had called on the government in Tbilisi to drop the law.

+++ 19:56 USA imposes new sanctions on supporters of Russia +++
The USA is imposing a new package of sanctions against supporters of Russia’s war of aggression in Ukraine. As the US Treasury Department reports, the punitive measures are aimed at around 300 people and companies. Affected are companies from Russia, China and other countries that are accused of helping Moscow procure weapons and military equipment for the war in Ukraine.

You can read all previous developments here.