News And Information From Ukraine

Dispatches from Ukraine, provided by Forbes Ukraine’s editorial team.

As Russia’s attack on Ukraine continues and the war rages on, reliable sources of information are critical. Forbes Ukraine’s reporters gather information and provide updates on the situation.

Tuesday. May 3. Day 69. By Daryna Antoniuk

National

Russians attacked several Ukrainian cities with missiles late on Tuesday.

In the western city of Lviv, three power substations have been damaged. The city has experienced power outages following an airstrike, according to Lviv mayor Andriy Sadovyi. At least one person was injured in the attack.

Two missiles flying over the southwestern Ukrainian city of Vinnytsia, and one moving towards Kyiv, were shot down by Ukrainian forces.

There were missile strikes in the central Kirovohrad and mountainous Zakarpattia regions. It was the first attack on Zakarpattia since the start of the war.

The city of Sumy was also struck by multiple rocket launchers and mortars on Tuesday.

At least 14 passenger trains were held up on Tuesday because Russian missiles struck six railway stations in central and western Ukraine, causing “severe” damage to infrastructure.

Regional

Mariupol. More than 150 evacuees from the Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol arrived in the Ukraine-controlled city of Zaporizhzhia on Tuesday. Hundreds more women, children, and the elderly, as well as 40 injured Ukrainian soldiers, are still trapped under the rubble.

Russian forces launched fresh attacks on Azovstal on Tuesday. All night long the plant was hit by artillery and aircraft, killing two civilian women in one of the bunkers.

Russian troops have deported almost 40,000 people from Mariupol to Russia or the breakaway Donetsk People’s Republic, according to Mariupol mayor Vadym Boichenko. He said that Ukrainians deported to Russia are forced to do “humiliating work.”

Almost 1.1 million people, including 200,000 children, have been evacuated from Ukraine to Russia since the beginning of the invasion, according to Russian officials.

Mykolaiv. Russian shelling injured five people in the Mykolaiv region. There are currently 145 people in local hospitals recovering after the attacks.

Donetsk. At least 10 people were killed and 15 injured by Russian shelling and airstrikes in Avdiivka, Donetsk region, according to the regional military administration

Odesa. A Russian missile hit the southern city of Odesa late on Monday, damaging a church and a dormitory. A 14-year-old boy was killed and a 17-year-old girl was wounded.

Kharkiv. Russian shelling killed one person and injured three others in the last 24 hours.

World

Ukrainian group Antytila has released a new song with English singer Ed Sheeran. It was partly filmed and recorded while Antytila’s lead singer Taras Topolya was serving as a medic on the front line in Borodyanka, a town near Kyiv badly damaged by Russia.

French President Emmanuel Macron had a phone call with Vladimir Putin on Tuesday. It lasted over two hours. Macron called for an end to the “devastating aggression” in Ukraine and for Russia to allow the evacuation of the Azovstal factory.

Putin, in turn, told Macron about the progress of “the special operation to protect Donbas” and the evacuation of civilians “held by the nationalists” from the Azovstal plant.

Western officials believe Putin could formally declare war on Ukraine on May 9, the day when Russia commemorates its defeat of Nazi Germany in 1945. By declaring war, Putin could enable the full mobilization of Russia’s reserve forces. Now, Putin’s regime prohibits calling Russia’s atrocities in Ukraine a “war” – everyone is mandated to refer to the conflict as a “special military operation.”

Russia will also try to annex the eastern Ukrainian regions of Luhansk and Donetsk in mid-May, according to U.S. officials.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced $376 million in new military aid to Ukraine. The package would include radars to pinpoint artillery bombardment, heavy-lift drones and thousands of night vision devices, Johnson said.