In Ukraine, air raid sirens have sounded after Russia launched a new surge of drone and missile attacks.
Overnight, explosions were heard in the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, where the mayor reported that five persons were injured in the “largest” kamikaze drone attack to date.
One individual was killed in the assault on the southern region of Odessa. According to the Ukrainian Red Cross, a warehouse was struck.
It is the fourth attack on Kiev in eight days and occurs just 24 hours before Victory Day in Russia.
The annual holiday commemorates the Soviet Union’s victory over Nazi Germany during World War II, a conflict with which the Kremlin has unjustifiably attempted to draw parallels since its full-scale invasion of Ukraine last year.
After a lull in Russian attacks on civilian targets in recent months, during which Kiev went days without an assault, Moscow has increased its air incursions over the past week in preparation for a widely anticipated Ukrainian counteroffensive.
According to the Ukrainian military, Iranian-made Shahed kamikaze drones swarmed across the country during the most recent Russian assaults, which lasted more than four hours and began shortly after midnight.
Mayor of Kyiv Vitaliy Klitschko stated that Russia had launched nearly sixty drones, calling it the “largest” attack of its kind to date.
He added that all 36 drones had been annihilated over Kiev, but five individuals had been injured by drone debris.
Kyiv’s military administration reported that emergency services responded to Zhuliany international airport, one of the city’s two commercial terminals, after drone debris landed on a runway.
The administration added that civilians were injured when drone debris struck a residential block in the central Shevchenkivskyi district.
According to Ukrainian officials, a warehouse was set ablaze in the Black Sea port city of Odesa after eight missiles were launched at targets by Russian bombers.
In a statement, the Ukrainian Red Cross stated that its warehouse containing humanitarian aid had been devastated and that all aid deliveries were halted.
Natalia Humeniuk, a spokeswoman for Ukraine’s Southern Command, stated subsequently that a security guard’s body was recovered from the wreckage.
In a daily update, the Ukrainian military command reported a series of missile attacks on the regions of Kherson, Kharkiv, and Mykolaiv.
According to local officials, at least eight persons, including a child, were injured in two villages in the southern Kherson region.
Vladimir Rogov, the director of the Russian-installed administration in Zaporizhzhia, reported that Russian forces struck a warehouse and a Ukrainian military position in Orikhiv.
On the eastern front, the Ukrainian commander of forces in the besieged eastern city of Bakhmut reported that Russian forces had increased bombardment in an attempt to capture the city by Tuesday’s festivities.
Despite its questionable strategic significance, Russian troops and fighters from the Wagner Group, a private military company, have been attempting to capture Bakhmut for months.
Wagner’s founder Yevgeny Prigozhin appeared to reverse his vow to withdraw from the city over the weekend after receiving assurances from the defence ministry in Moscow that fresh ammunition would be supplied.
In the meantime, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky declared that the 9th of May would henceforth be celebrated as Europe Day, in accordance with the European Union. This action, which requires parliamentary sanction, is perceived as a stern rebuke to Russia.
Mr. Zelensky stated that he had signed a decree commemorating European unity and the defeat of “Ruscism” – an abbreviation for “Russian fascism”
He also stated that the 8th of May would now be officially recognised as a Day of Remembrance and Victory, as it is in many nations around the globe.
Tuesday in Kiev, President Ursula von der Leyen of the European Commission will meet with Mr. Zelensky.
As Russia prepares for Tuesday’s Victory Day parade on Moscow’s Red Square, the Kremlin has not yet announced President Vladimir Putin’s participation at the annual event.
Last year, Mr. Putin addressed the marching troops and was spotted seated in the VIP box with World War II veterans.
Russia states that the leaders of Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan – all former Soviet republics – are expected to attend the parade, which has been shunned by key world powers, including the United Kingdom, the United States, and France – all former allies of the Soviet Union during World War II.
Separately, on 9 May, a court in Berlin prohibited the flying of Russian and Soviet flags at rallies held at Soviet war memorials in the German capital.
