Key updates on May 17: * Ukrainian drones hit military facilities in Russia, Crimea amid Russian claims of over 100 drones downed * Zelensky says Russia's Kharkiv Oblast offensive advances as far as 10 km, halted by 1st defense line * Zelensky signs law amendments increasing fines for draft evaders, allowing some convicts
Satellite images obtained by RFE/RL and The New York Times suggested two MiG-31s and one Su-27 were damaged if not totally destroyed.
If confirmed, it would be the largest drone attack by Ukraine throughout the entire war. A previous attack in March saw the Kremlin claiming to have downed 65 drones.
Drone attacks targeting the port city of Sevastopol in occupied Crimea overnight on May 17 damaged a substation, causing blackouts that prompted occupation authorities to close schools.
Key updates on May 16: * Zelensky in Kharkiv: Situation 'difficult' but 'under control,' Russia suffers losses * Denmark announces more than $815 million in new military assistance for Ukraine * Minister: Russia captures, shoots civilians in northern Vovchansk * Source: Ukrainian drones attack Russian defense manufacturer's facilities in Tula * Partisans: Ammunition depot
The partisans claim that the damaged depot stored "most of the missiles" for Russian Su-27 and Su-30 fighter jets as well as MiG-31 aircraft, a carrier of Kinzhal ballistic missiles that Russia uses to attack Ukraine.
A fire broke out at the Belbek airfield in northwest Sevastopol in the evening of May 15, several Telegram monitoring channels reported. Explosions were also heard in Sevastopol, Simferopol, Dzhankoi and Hvardiiske.
Explosions were heard in the city and fires are still burning near the Belbek military airfield after an alleged missile attack against occupied Crimea on May 15.
Ukrainian air defense units shot down all of the 18 Russian attack drones overnight on May 14, the Air Force said in its morning update. The drones were launched from the occupied Crimean peninsula.
Andriy Yusov said Russia has been taking steps to counter the attacks including trying to hide ships and build protective barriers, but said HUR was "finding new ways to show that HUR and Magura work extremely efficiently."
The bridge, also called the Kerch Bridge, connects the Russian mainland with the Russian-occupied Crimea peninsula, and has long been a crucial supply route for the Russian military in Ukraine.
Key developments on May 6: * Ukraine destroys Russian fast attack craft in occupied Crimea * Syrskyi: Russia trying to break through defenses to reach Kurakhove, Pokrovsk * Russia threatens UK military installations, equipment "in Ukraine and abroad" after Cameron's remarks * Netherlands to begin F-16 aircraft deliveries to Ukraine in autumn * Minister: Ukraine
The combat operation was conducted by the "Group 13" unit of Ukraine's military intelligence in the Vuzka Bay in the Black Sea.
In a post on Telegram, the Kremlin's Defense Ministry said four ATACMS missiles provided to Ukraine by the U.S. were intercepted overnight by "air defense systems on duty." It did not say if falling debris had caused any damage.
Russian forces shot down a Ukrainian drone over occupied Crimea on May 2, the Russian Defense Ministry claimed.
The news was corroborated by the Crimean Wind and Astra Telegram channels, which also added that the Crimean Bridge was temporarily closed as a result.
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) is "playing along with Russian aggression," Ukraine's Chief Ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets said on April 27.
Ukraine's human rights activist Mariia Sulialina has won the 2024 Civil Rights Defender of the Year Award, the organization announced on April 25. Sulialina, who heads the Ukrainian human rights organization Almenda, has been documenting Russia's war crimes against children.
The U.S. began this spring secretly providing Ukraine with long-range Army Tactical Missile Systems (ATACMS) at President Joe Biden's direction, U.S. State Department Spokesperson Vedant Patel confirmed at a press briefing on April 24. The statement was in response to a journalist's question about a Reuters report on
A missile was launched at the Russian Black Sea Fleet stationed in occupied Sevastopol on April 21, the city’s Russian-installed governor has said. A source in Ukraine’s military intelligence told the Kyiv Independent that information on the strike was still being clarified.
Key developments on April 18: * Ukraine destroys missile launchers, radar stations at Russian military airfield in Crimea, says Military intelligence * Reuters: Ukraine says Russia's use of illegal tear gas on battlefield is increasing * Zelensky: Ukraine to produce 10 Bohdana howitzers this month * German delegation promises new IRIS-T delivery shortly * Russian
Ukraine destroyed several units of military equipment in an attack on a Russian military airfield in Dzhankoi in occupied Crimea on April 17, Ukraine's military intelligence (HUR) reported.
Ukrainian forces carried out an attack early on April 17 against a Russian military airfield in Dzhankoi in occupied Crimea, President Volodymyr Zelensky said.
Explosions were reported in the town of Dzhankoi in occupied Crimea near a military airfield during the early hours of April 17, according to Russian-affiliated telegram channels. Following the explosions, a large-scale fire reportedly broke out at the airfield.
The local partisan group Atesh said that the sounds of Russian air defense operating had been heard. Atesh claimed that the military base of the 810th Marine Brigade in Sevastopol had been hit.
Editor’s Note: This article was published by the twice-weekly newsletter “The Counteroffensive with Tim Mak” on April 14, 2024, and has been re-published by the Kyiv Independent with permission. To subscribe to "The Counteroffensive," click here. In a country at war, death is all around. But Pavel Goldin is
As president of the U.S., Donald Trump “made it very clear” that he believed Ukraine “must be part of Russia,” his former advisor Fiona Hill said, The Guardian reported on April 12, citing an excerpt from a book by The New York Times reporter David Sanger.
A Russian Mi-24 helicopter crashed into the Black Sea off the coast of Crimea, Russian state-controlled news agency RIA Novosti reported on April 10, citing the Russian Defense Ministry.
A Russian Ka-27 helicopter was downed over Russian-occupied Crimea, Ukrainian Navy spokesperson Dmytro Pletenchuk said on April 10.
Ukrainian air defense units destroyed 14 of 17 Shahed-type drones that Russia launched overnight and two Kh-59 missiles, the Air Force said in its morning update on April 10.
Russia's reconnaissance capabilities in the sky, on the water, and on land suffered after Ukraine regained control of a set of oil drilling platforms located in the Black Sea last autumn, Ukraine's military intelligence said on April 8.
An advisor to Donald Trump, the U.S. Republican Party's presumptive nominee for the 2024 presidential run, refuted claims in the media that the ex-president would push Ukraine to give up some of its territory if reelected, The New York Post reported on April 7.
Russia invaded Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula in February 2014 amid the deadliest days of the EuroMaidan Revolution that eventually ousted pro-Russian ex-President Viktor Yanukovych. Around 30,000 Russian troops crossed into Crimea, taking hold of the peninsula by early March 2014.
This event effectively began Russia's ongoing war against Ukraine. The Russian military has continued to occupy Crimea ever since. Many countries have openly opposed the illegal annexation of Crimea and continue to recognize Crimea as being part of Ukraine.
Crimea covers an area of around 27,000 square kilometers (10,400 square miles), which is roughly the same size as the U.S. state of Massachusetts.
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