Ukraine in brief:
The 81st day of the heroic opposition of the Ukrainian people to the russian military invasion continues.
The enemy does not stop conducting offensive operations to establish full control over the territory of the Donetsk, Luhansk, and Kherson oblasts and maintain the land corridor with the temporarily occupied Crimea.
There are no active actions of enemy units in the north of Ukraine.
On the border of the Sumy Oblast, the russian army fired on our territories and fired missiles at civilian infrastructure in the areas of Shipylivka and Shevchenkove.
In the Kharkiv direction, the enemy focused its main efforts on maintaining the occupied positions and preventing the advance of Ukrainian troops to the State Border of Ukraine.
In the Donetsk direction, the enemy continues to carry out intense shelling along the contact line and tries to gain a foothold in the occupied positions. The primary efforts of the enemy continued to focus on the Lyman, Severodonetsk, Bakhmut, Avdiivka, and Kurakhiv areas.
The occupiers suffered significant losses in staffing and equipment. In some areas, the staffing of units, according to the results of hostilities, is less than 20 percent.
In the Severodonetsk direction, the enemy, with the support of artillery, fought in the area of the village of Toshkivka. In the area of Borivskyi, the occupiers suffered losses and retreated. Fighting continues in the Bakhmut direction in the Komyshuvakha area. The enemy fought in the Avdiivka direction and suffered losses in the area of the settlements of Pisky and Novokalynove. He used heavy flamethrower systems in some areas.
In Mariupol, russian occupation troops continue to focus their efforts on blocking and defeating our units in the area of the Azovstal plant. They inflict massive artillery and airstrikes.
In the Zaporizhzhia and Dnipropetrovsk oblasts, the enemy tried to fire Ukrainian troops with multiple rocket launchers, artillery, and mortars. There were attempts to fight the counter-battery.
Northern oblasts
Kyiv
Now the capital is calm, despite air raids. The military leadership does not deny the possibility of another russian attack on Kyiv. Therefore, the Ukrainian military and civilian specialists have developed a plan to defend the city.
Kyiv Oblast
Two air raids were heard during the night. Over the past 24hrs, specialists have neutralized 342 explosive devices and a total of 32982.
Power engineers continue to carry out work to restore light in the settlements of Bucha and Vyshhorod raions. Almost 2079 households in 7 settlements are without electricity. Only some houses in the village of Gostomel remain without a centralized water supply due to the lack of electricity supply. Repair work is underway.
Zhytomyr Oblast
There were several air raids at night. Yesterday in Korosten, communal services dismantled two monuments – “To the participants of the Ukrainian revolution of the XX century” and Mykola Ostrovsky. The dismantling was carried out under the decision of the Executive Committee of the Korosten City Council. Starting tomorrow, devices for recording traffic violations will begin working in Zhytomyr in automatic mode.
Chernihiv Oblast
During the occupation of the Chernihiv Oblast, the russian army deliberately destroyed the medical system in the Oblast. Within a month, the occupiers destroyed 8 hospitals and damaged 37. In total, they caused losses of over 2 billion hryvnias.
Demining continues. During the day, pyrotechnics seized 288 explosive devices. Since the beginning of the full-scale war, there are more than 22 thousand such items.
Sumy Oblast
The night in the Sumy Oblast was restless. In the evening, the russians launched a missile strike on the outskirts of the village of Shpylivka. Enemies wreaked havoc on households. At night, the enemy inflicted significant damage to the infrastructure of the Shostka Raion with a missile strike from a plane. In both cases, there were no casualties.
Eastern oblasts
Kharkiv Oblast
Relative silence has been observed in Kharkiv for several days now. However, the threat of shelling from the occupiers remains. The enemy continues to strike at settlements in the Oblast. Last night, the Chuhuiv district was hit again – 2 people were injured, including a 15-year-old child. Two people were also wounded in the shelling of Pervomaisky.
The Zolochiv community was restless. The occupiers struck at the village of Svitlychne. As a result, several houses and apartments in a two-story building were damaged. People are gradually returning to Kharkiv. About 2000 people come to Ukrzaliznytsia alone every day. This figure is increasing daily. Residents of the Kharkiv Oblast are also returning to the territories liberated from the occupiers. A lot of demining work is still underway.
The hottest spot is the Izyum direction. Near Barvinkove, the enemy is constantly trying to break through the positions of Armed Forces of Ukraine but is unsuccessful and again loses its workforce and equipment. In particular, yesterday, the Ukrainian military shot down a plane in the temporarily occupied territory of the Kharkiv Oblast. Kharkiv is gradually coming back to life. The metro is planned to be launched in the next two weeks.
Donetsk Oblast
The Ukrainian army repulsed twelve enemy attacks in the Donetsk and Luhansk directions over the past 24 hours. It destroyed eight tanks, five artillery systems, nine units of armored combat vehicles, and five enemy cars:
Despite the losses, the enemy continues to advance in the Lyman, Avdiivka, and Kurakhiv directions. On May 14th, the russians killed three civilians in Donetsk Oblast (2 people in Bohorodychne and 1 in Keramik). 4 more people were injured.
Since the beginning of the russian invasion of Ukraine, 360 civilians have been killed and 1056 wounded during shelling and bombing in Donetsk Oblast.
Local authorities warned Donetsk Oblast residents that there is a high probability of gas supply cessation in the next few days due to russia’s actions. In the occupied territories of Ukraine, one of the transit gas pipelines was illegally closed, and the internal main gas pipeline, operated and serviced by the Gas Transmission System Operator of Ukraine.
Volnovakha
Today at 2 pm, the occupiers told the locals to close their shops and stay at home, preferably in the basement. Military equipment was taken to the highway due to a possible offensive by the Ukrainian soldiers. People are scared and exhausted. Those who left confidently believe in Ukraine’s victory. Those citizens, who have remained, are exposed to enemy propaganda. It is almost impossible to go for the controlled Ukrainian territory because russian occupation troops fire on the cars and do not let them out. People can spend the night in the field for 3 days, trying to leave.
The regional AUI “Active Community” coordinator collects drawings for the Mykolaiv soldiers. Today the coordinator launches a competition for children in Uman called “My family in my country”.
Pokrovsk and Pokrovsk Raion
The enemy is attacking along the contact line with military aircraft and artillery. The Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) repel the enemy. The local Territorial Defense Forces units are patrolling the community territory.
Yesterday the situation was restless in the Pokrovsk community. As a result of the enemy hitting a missile in one of the villages of the Pokrovsk community, a hangar was on fire. There are no victims. The State Emergency Service of Ukraine received 5 notifications about the presence of explosive devices, and 4 of them were destroyed.
Despite the martial law and the rather tense situation in Raion, the leadership of the Pokrovsk community is putting considerable effort into maintaining order in the city and the annexed territories. All services currently work. Particular attention is paid to the communal sphere. Although there are active hostilities not far from the city, people mow the grass, clean cemeteries, and check the condition of roads.
Bakhmut
As of May 15th, private trade facilities are operating in a limited mode. The enemy is trying to advance in the Bakhmut direction. Also, enemy troops are regrouping in the Lyman and Bakhmut directions:
Bakhmut residents help the wounded brought from the battlefield. In particular, today, two people injured in Luhansk Oblast received medical help.
Mariupol
Russia continues to attack Ukrainian defenders at the “Azovstal” plant. Phosphorus bombs were probably used against them yesterday. The wives of “Azovstal” defenders are giving a press conference on the situation at the plant. They demand their husbands, surrounded by russian soldiers, to be rescued. Captivity, in this case, is not a way out because it means torture and death for the Ukrainian soldiers.
The death rate in Mariupol is extremely high. It happens not due to the hostilities but due to the consequences of the occupation and the difficult humanitarian situation.
The occupying authorities cannot restore the critical infrastructure and municipal utilities in the city. Yesterday they made the first attempt to restore the electricity supply in the Central Raion of Mariupol. Fires immediately broke out due to a short circuit in the shattered apartments.
Luhansk Oblast
The russians are throwing all their forces into Luhansk Oblast to encircle it. Hostilities occur near Severodonetsk in the villages of Shchedryshcheve and Voronove. The occupiers shelled Severodonetsk 11 times. They hit the hospital, residential buildings, a chemical plant, and a college.
In the evening, nine civilians were injured. They received help at the damaged hospital, which continues to operate. Ten people, including four children and two people with limited mobility, were evacuated from Severodonetsk.
There is a lot of russian equipment near Popasna. The russians did not abandon the idea of cutting off Luhansk Oblast from other oblasts of Ukraine by taking the Lysychansk-Bakhmut road under control. The theft of Ukrainian property in the occupied territories and the terror of the locals continue.
Southern oblasts
Zaporizhzhia Oblast
The situation remains calm. Most of the Oblast territories are under russian occupation. Russian occupation troops on the captured territories install their administrators, oppress the local population, abduct and rob individuals, block humanitarian aid delivery, and take away grain and other agricultural produce.
The russian military has been doubling down on artillery fires on Ukrainian positions. They also shell civil infrastructure and residential neighborhoods. Huliaypole has been under fire for the last two days. Many residential buildings were damaged: destroyed roofs, dented walls, and smashed windows. Damage and fires due to shelling have been registered in the village of Kamyanske, Vasylivka Raion, and the town of Orikhiv, Polohy Raion. A fire at the russian munitions depot has broken in the temporarily occupied town of Polohy.
A convoy of private vehicles carrying Mariupol residents held at a russian checkpoint for more than three days has been finally let to go for Zaporizhzhia on May 14th. According to residents of the occupied Melitopol, many strangers have appeared in the city of late, spreading fake news, disinformation, and russian propaganda.
Crimes by russian invaders are being documented in great detail. The AUI “Active Community” team in Zaporizhzhia held an art therapy session for internally displaced children staying at one of the local shelters. The volunteers are also collecting clothes for the wounded service members.
Kherson Oblast
The enemy continues combat action in the Mykolayiv and Kherson Oblasts. The invaders are improving the engineering setup of their positions without resorting to active offensive actions. The Ukrainian army has scored its twentieth strike against the invaders in Chornobayivka, hitting the enemy munitions depot. In the Kherson Oblast, russian occupants have started printing and distributing an occupiers’ newspaper, Chernomorskiy Vestnik.
The invaders take local civilians hostage and subject them to torture. Grain theft continues unabated. Checkpoints have been strengthened in all directions. The russian occupation troops near the village of Karierne in the Oblast used Grad MRLs to shell a convoy of vehicles with peaceful civilians who were trying to leave the occupation zone. A woman with a child was inflicted with multiple wounds from shattered glass.
Skadovsk
The Mayor continues serving his office remotely. He has ordered terminating labor relations with all staff members who have been involved or participated in activities mounted by the ‘occupating government’ on May 9th. Under the aggressor country flag, the employees supporting activities shall not receive remuneration or other payments.
Some community villages are currently facing issues with water supply. It is rather problematic to have the water pump repaired, and chances of procuring a new one are non-existent. Reserves are being used to alleviate the issue, but the situation gets more complicated by the day.
The locals are teaming up with each other and try leaving the town. The situation continues to be critical: pharmacies, banking, and welfare institutions remain inoperative. Retail prices at stores are exorbitant. Nearly all the young people have left the area. There is a medicine-swapping scheme in the town. The AUI “Active Community” coordinator has joined volunteer efforts.
Mykolayiv Oblast
The situation in the city and the Oblast remains tense. Some ten people were wounded in the Oblast within 24 hours. The Oblast is receiving aid from abroad and other oblasts of Ukraine. Five buses were donated to the city by the government of Warsaw. The buses have arrived full with humanitarian aid and repair kits for the buses themselves.
Odesa Oblast
Two cruise missile-carrying navy vessels and five large landing ships of the russia are stationed in the Black Sea.
Central oblasts
Dnipropetrovsk Oblast
The enemy shelled the Oblast twice with Uragan MRLs in the wee hours. The village of Shesternya in the Shyrokiv community, Kryvyi Rih Raion, suffered the brunt. Cluster munitions dispensers have been found in several courtyards. The russian invaders have been shelling the territories of the Zelenyi Dol, Apostolovo, and Shyroke communities throughout the day. No casualties or wounded have been reported.
The police force of the Oblast has checked on more than a hundred suspects and detained two infiltrators. There are currently around 225 thousand internally displaced persons (IDPs) in the Dnipropetrovsk Oblast. The people have been provided with lodging, meals, and medical assistance.
The city of Dnipro has donated more than 300 ATVs to defense forces. A charity concert, Songs in Subway Stations, was held in the Dnipro underground. It featured free performances by Ukrainian stars to raise morale. The line-up included Skryabin, Ot Vinta, MBreeze, Serhiy Boyko, Oleksandr Klets, and East Operations Command’s Military Orchestra.
A heavy goods vehicle from California has reached Dnipro. The local volunteers received foodstuffs for IDPs delivered by the Khutorok brand: 2.5 tons of flour, cereals, pasta, and sugar. The volunteers also received canned food, personal hygiene items, baby formula, children toys, and diapers from Canoe For Ukraine CFU Volunteers & Donators.
An evacuation team of the Dnipro Coordination Volunteer HQ continues to assist with evacuations from hotspots. It includes, among others, the elderly and individuals with disabilities. Days ago, the volunteers assisted with the evacuation of 30 residents of the Donetsk Oblast to safety.
Some 32 notebooks and two printers have been donated in Dnipro for the military. The aid also includes six tablets for the Northern Operations Tactical Command. The military will also receive 52 modern UAVs. The HQ has provided the Ukrainian service members with another cargo of medicines and medical devices most needed on the frontline.
Kirovohrad Oblast
Air raid sirens sounded one after another, signaling the threat of a missile attack. In the Oleksandria Raion, air defense forces shot down an enemy missile flying in the direction of Kropyvnytskyi. The local Territorial Defense Forces units kept watch at checkpoints and patrolled the city with the police.
In general, the situation in the Oblast is under control. The Nika+ stadium hosted the group stage matches of the charity tournament in support of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU). The tournament organizers were FC “Oleksandria”, the Department of Youth and Sports of the Oleksandria City Council, and the NGO “Football Federation of the Oleksandria Raion”. The tournament partners are VBET Ukraine, Delta Sport Ukraine, and the Agrovista holding.
The coordinator of the AUI “Active Community” took part in weaving camouflage nets and sorting household items, clothes and food products donated by citizens.
Poltava Oblast
The Poltava Oblast remains to be a reliable rear location. Despite the war, doctors, nurses, paramedics, paramedics, and obstetricians who had to leave the front-line areas continue to work, rescue people, and help the military and civilians. 215 medical officers have already found jobs in the Poltava Oblast: 98 doctors and 117 nurses, and other specialists. The Poltava Oblast is ready to receive more doctors in the future.
The medical sphere of the Oblast is powerful and continues to improve further. In particular, the Poltava Oblast Oncology Center has begun major repairs on the premises where the first in the Oblast linear accelerator for high-precision cancer treatment will be installed. This American equipment was purchased earlier this year. In addition, a new video endoscopy unit has started operating in the oncology dispensary.
The sowing campaign in the Oblast is heading into the homestretch (https://t.me/DMYTROLUNIN/1866). So far, the Poltava Oblast farmers have sown more than 1.2 million hectares of crops. It is more than 85% of the area allotted in the Oblast.
Fundraising for the treatment of 26-year-old Oleh Haidabur has started in the Poltava Oblast. His tractor came under fire from russian invaders, and now the guy is in grave condition.
In Poltava, they plan to resume the work of 13 kindergartens. Consolidated groups of 30-50 children will be created in certain kindergartens. At the same time, children who went to kindergartens at their residence before the outbreak of the war can switch to these pre-school institutions. The authorities decided after online consultations with the kids’ parents.
Poltava artists Oleksandr Fastovets and Anton Kravchenko completed a patriotic mural. It is created on the wall of one of the kindergartens in the city center.
Further, plans include the creation of several more murals in the city. The subject of another mural may be the hero city of Mariupol.
Vinnytsia Oblast
In the Transnistria region of the Republic of Moldova, armed formations have been transferred to a daily mode of operation. At the same time, units of the task force of the russian occupation troops continue to be on high alert. The Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) were on alert to repel the enemy’s encroachment. The local Territorial Defense Forces units kept watching in the community.
Khmilnyk
Khmilnyk Mayor, Mykola Yurchyshyn, met with the Vinnytsia team of the Right to Protection Charitable Foundation, who visited Khmilnyk to study the urgent IDPs needs and opportunities for their humanitarian support. During the dialogue, the parties outlined a range of topical humanitarian and legal issues in which human rights defenders can be useful to IDPs.
From the city and commune of Busko-Zdrój, the Khmilnyk community again received humanitarian aid with long-term storage of food products, baby goods, water, medical supplies, bandages, mats (rugs), personal hygiene items, as well as blankets, and beds. Thanks to volunteer initiatives, the hearts of kind residents of Osterland (Netherlands) also responded to the call to help Ukrainians. They delivered 100 first-aid kits to the Khmilnyk community.
For the second time, Khmilnyk received a consignment of humanitarian aid from the Pun Fund charity organization, which brought a significant food supply, including oatmeal, 230 packs of pasta, rice, peas, and wheat groats. For children, they sent baby food in the mixture. Care packages will be given to IDPs, who today found shelter in the territory of the Khmilnyk community (more than 6500 people have been registered here). In addition, part of the aid will be directed to the AFU needs and those communities that are worst affected by russian aggression.
Oleksandr Tanenok, the coordinator of the AUI “Active Community” in the city of Khmilnyk, posted on the FB page of this organization the answers to frequently asked questions by IDPs, namely:
1. What kind of international financial aid can IDPs receive?
2. What other programs are available to IDPs?
Zhmerynka
The situation in the community is quiet. Today is a day of mourning in the community: a 24-year-old resident of the village of Brailiv, who was killed on May 9th, was buried. The mood among the population is beginning to be more pessimistic, and few still believe in the imminent end of the war.
In general, everything is quiet. Interestingly, the residents engaged in planting vegetables en masse. The majority of the population believes that Ukraine will face hard times and a food crisis, so even those who have been buying these products on the market for a long time do not hesitate to carve out at least a piece of land and plant something. There is still no gasoline in the city, and public transport runs less frequently.
Western oblasts
Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast
Today, many citizens are discussing the victory at “Eurovision” of the band “Kalush Orchestra”. In honor of this victory, train №43 “Kyiv-Ivano-Frankivsk” was officially named “Stefania Express”. The stations of Kyiv, Ivano-Frankivsk, and Kalush city will greet this train with the song “Stefania”. It is the first train in the world named after a mother.
Fairs are held in the community on weekends, and the proceeds will support the AFU. There are 2 officially registered voluntary military associations in the city; one of them is “Halychyna”. Its representatives officially took the oath yesterday.
Rivne Oblast
The general situation was relatively calm; one air alert was declared. The AFU soldiers patrol the border with belarus. Representatives of the local Territorial Defense Forces units patrol and are on duty at checkpoints. Rivne is preparing to open alternating kindergartens with specialized shelters. There are several such institutions in the city.
Khmelnytskyi Oblasts
Kamianets-Podilskyi
In the morning, air alarms sounded in the city. There was a rally in memory of the victims of political repression – hundreds of thousands of people tortured by the soviet totalitarian regime in the 20th century simply because they were Ukrainians. As the mayor noted: “In the XXI century, moskow uses the same murderous methods and commits great terror Rashists physically destroy, imprison, intimidate, deport millions of people, take grain from our land, threatening famine…” Yesterday, community residents paid their last respects to two heroes who died defending Ukraine.
The Central Stadium is being renovated as part of the “Great Construction” project. After putting the stadium into operation, it will be possible to hold official starts in athletics and host the Second League of the Ukrainian Football Championship.
The AUI “Active Community” coordinators conducted an art therapy session for children who left their homes due to the war. The regional coordinator participated in the work of the toponymic commission.
Chernivtsi Oblast (Bukovyna)
Currently, there are no active hostilities in the Chernivtsi Oblast. Bukovyna paid the last respects to two soldiers who defended the independence and freedom of the Motherland in the war against the russian occupiers.
About 1 600 displaced children and young residents of Bukovyna, who remain in social institutions, participated in the charity project “Children to Children”. In one of the shopping and entertainment centers of Chernivtsi, they were met by star guests, famous Ukrainian bloggers, and Tik-Tok stars. Among them are representatives of the band “MOZGI”, singers Positiff, Vadym Oliynyk and MamaRika, artist Lesya Nikityuk, choreographers Zhenya Kot and Yulia Sakhnevych, and others. The host of the event was Lilia Rebryk.
Zakarpattya Oblast
In Zakarpattya, everything is quiet. In Khust city, bulletproof vests for defenders of Ukraine are sewn. The vests are cut according to the Czech model. The sewists do this all with love and gratitude. The process is led by Oleksandra Vasylivna, who was recently a teacher of labor education at a local gymnasium. Both local and IDPs work in the industry. Everyone tries to be helpful to the defenders of Ukraine.
In Uzhhorod, the Honored Academic Zakarpattya Folk Choir will hold an art mob “Put on your vyshyvanka [Ukrainian embroidered shirt]” supporting the 128th Zakarpattya Separate Mountain Assault Brigade. The event will take place on May 16th at 18:00 on Teatralna Square. The organizers invite everyone to join by wearing their embroidered shirts.
The AUI “Active Community” team joined the weaving of camouflage nets.
Last modified: 17 Травня, 2022
