The eastern Ukrainian city of Sievjerodonetsk is almost completely surrounded by Russian troops. Moscow reports the capture of Lyman, while Ukraine again reports dead and injured civilians. All news about the attack on Ukraine can be found here in the ticker.
10.07 a.m .: At least three people were injured in a bomb attack in the city of Melitopol in southern Ukraine, which was occupied by Russian troops. “Today at 7.40 a.m. there was a powerful explosion right in the city center,” wrote the head of the Russian military administration Vladimir Rogov in his Telegram channel. Rogow spoke of a terrorist attack.
According to reports, a bomb planted under a parked vehicle detonated in Victory Square. The administration building occupied by the Russians is also on the square. The explosive device injured volunteers who had unloaded Russian aid supplies to the population, Russian media reports.
Melitopol belongs to the Zaporizhia region in southern Ukraine and serves as an administrative center for the Russians, since the regional capital itself is still under Kiev control. Increased partisan activities by Ukrainians have already been reported in the region in recent weeks – with attacks on infrastructure, Russian soldiers, but also collaborators who work with the Russian occupiers.
9:09 a.m .: According to British findings, Russia suffered “devastating losses” in its officer corps in its war against Ukraine. Brigade and battalion commanders are active on the front line, the Ministry of Defense said in London on Monday, citing intelligence findings. On the one hand, this is because they are held personally responsible for the success of their units. In addition, the Russian army lacked qualified non-commissioned officers who fulfilled this role in Western armed forces.
But these heavy losses would have several consequences for the Russian armed forces, the ministry stressed. For example, newly formed battalions are probably less effective due to the lack of junior leaders. In addition, there is a danger that existing problems such as a lack of discipline and weak morals will be exacerbated. There are credible reports of isolated mutinies. Finally, the modernization of the army will be made more difficult, the ministry said.
7:27 a.m .: According to Ukrainian information, the Russian armed forces are preparing a large-scale attack on the Sloviansk area, the center of the Ukrainian defense forces in the Donbass. Russian troops deployed new units to the area to attack Sloviansk from both Izyum and the recently captured small town of Lyman, the Ukrainian General Staff situation report said on Monday.
The Sloviansk-Kramatorsk region is the largest metropolitan area in the Donbass still under Kiev control. The high command of the armed forces in the east of the country is also stationed here.
“In the Sloviansk area, enemy units have regrouped their forces in order to renew the offensive in the Izyum – Barvenkove and Izyum – Sloviansk directions,” the General Staff said. In preparation, 250 military vehicles were moved to the Izyum area and a railway bridge in the area was also repaired to speed up supplies. A squadron of Ka-52 attack helicopters was also stationed north of Izyum. The Ka-52 is considered to be the most modern heavy attack helicopter in Russia. In addition, the Russian troops are in the process of repositioning themselves in Lyman, north-east of Sloviansk.
6:35 a.m .: According to their own statements, the Ukrainian military continued its offensive in the south of the country during the night. “The situation in the south is dynamic and tense,” said the high command of the Ukrainian military district south on Monday night on its Facebook page. Russia is assembling reserves and trying to fortify the front lines in the Kherson region. “At the same time, our units continue their offensive activities to tie down the enemy and prevent regrouping of reserves.”
According to their own statements, the Ukrainian military killed 67 Russian soldiers and disabled 27 military vehicles in the fighting. Among them were six – albeit very outdated – tanks of the T-62 type. This information cannot be verified independently.
03:42: The city council of Novyi Buh in Ukraine’s Mykolaiv Oblast reported late on May 29 that the central part of the city was significantly damaged by the Russian airstrike. Information on injuries is currently not available.
Monday, May 30, 1:10 a.m.: Ukraine says it has destroyed a Russian ammunition depot in eastern Ukraine. In addition, the country’s tactical operations group “East” killed a total of 39 Russian soldiers on May 29. This is reported by The Kyiv Independent.
In addition, Ukraine destroyed one infantry fighting vehicle, one armored personnel carrier, five armored fighting vehicles, two artillery systems, three heavy artillery tractors, one fuel tanker and three unmanned aerial vehicles.
9:20 p.m .: Russia apparently wants to increase the incentive for young men to support the Russian troops in the Ukraine war. This is reported by the “Bild” newspaper. A flyer in the Bashkortostan region entices with a sum of “around 300,000 rubles per month” for a war effort. In more detail, soldiers should get 220,000 rubles (about 3110 euros) a month. There is a one-time payment of 250,000 rubles (about 3540 euros) and 8000 rubles (110 euros) for each day of use. Despite extensive sanctions, the Kremlin is apparently digging deep into the war chest: according to reports, soldiers have so far received around 50,000 rubles (about 730 euros) per month.
Not only would the new salary be significantly higher than that of the previous soldiers in the Ukraine war. Also, volunteers would earn about five times as much as the average worker in Russia. Just last week, Putin had ordered a higher military pay. However, he did not give any specific figures.
8:06 p.m .: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy fired the head of the city’s state security service after his visit to the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv. The news agency “AFP” reports. The reason is that he didn’t work on the city’s defense in the first days of the war, Zelenskyj said on Sunday.
“I dismissed the head of the Security Service of Ukraine in the Kharkiv region because in the first days of the all-out war he didn’t bother about defending the city and only thought about himself,” Zelenskyy said in his speech.
Zelenskyi also said that the capture of Sieverodonetsk is Russia’s main goal, adding that all critical infrastructure in the region has been destroyed.
7:01 p.m .: According to Ukrainian sources, the fighting in the Donbass continues with undiminished intensity, especially in the Sievjerodonetsk area. The enemy “attempts to gain a foothold on the north-eastern outskirts of Seyerodonetsk and is conducting offensive operations towards the city center,” the Ukrainian General Staff said in its situation report on Sunday evening. The ground offensive is supported by artillery and air force.
6:32 p.m .: A few hours after President Volodymyr Zelenskyj’s visit, several explosions can be heard in the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv. This is reported by a reporter from the Reuters news agency. A plume of black smoke could be seen over the northeast of the city.
Zelenskyy has visited the east of the country for the first time since the beginning of the war in Ukraine. His office published a video on Sunday in the Telegram messenger service showing Zelenskyy wearing a bulletproof vest in and around Kharkiv. The head of state announced that the destroyed houses would be rebuilt “in Kharkiv and all other towns and villages where evil broke out”.
4:35 p.m .: According to Ukrainian information, two other high-ranking Russian officers were killed in the Ukraine war. On Sunday, the Ukrainian military announced that Volodymyr Ivanov, an employee of the Russian Defense Ministry’s press service, and Oleksandr Vyhulyar, commander of the 106th parachute division, were killed in Ukraine.
3:32 p.m .: According to the government in Moscow, Russian troops have destroyed a large arsenal of the Ukrainian army in Kryvyi Rih. Rockets hit the camp, reports the Russian news agency Tass, citing the Ministry of Defense. Kryvyi Rih is a major city in south-central Ukraine. In addition, a Ukrainian SU-25 fighter jet was shot down in the Dnipro region with anti-aircraft missile systems.
3:26 p.m .: In the eastern Ukrainian Donbass, the Russian troops are encircling the strategically important cities of Severodonetsk and Lysychansk. The last two towns in the region held by Ukrainian soldiers were again heavily attacked on Sunday.
“The enemy has carried out new offensive operations,” reported the Ukrainian army on Sunday from the Severodonetsk region. According to Governor Serhiy Gajday, the Russian attack continued throughout the day, and street fighting is already taking place in the city. The ruler of the Russian republic Chechnya’s Ramzan Kadyrov has even declared that “Severodonetsk is completely under our control.” “The city has been liberated,” Kadyrov wrote on Telegram on Saturday evening.
Severodonetsk Mayor Olexander Stryuk raised the alarm about the humanitarian and sanitary situation in the city, which had a population of 100,000 before the war. “Constant bombing raids” would make the supply of drinking water more difficult, he wrote on Telegram. There has been no electricity in the city for more than two weeks. The “humanitarian aid center” had to stop its work.
It is estimated that around 15,000 civilians remain in Severodonetsk. According to the mayor, they haven’t had a cell phone connection with each other or with the outside world for two weeks.
7:53 a.m .: According to the authorities, the situation for the residents of the embattled city of Severodonetsk in Donbass in eastern Ukraine is becoming increasingly hopeless. “Russia is using all means to conquer Severodonetsk or to prevent communications in the region and in Ukraine,” said the governor of the Luhansk region, Serhiy Gaiday, on the Telegram messenger service on Saturday evening. “The coming week will be very difficult,” he added. However, the Russian troops are not able to implement all their plans in the near future.
The mayor of Severodonetsk, Olexander Stryuk, also referred to Telegram on the “many means” used by the Russian army to take the city. “But they can’t do that yet,” he said with conviction. “We believe the city will hold up.” He expressed concern about the sanitary situation in the city, which had a population of 100,000 before the war.
“Constant bombing raids” would complicate the supply of drinking water in particular. The city had had no electricity for more than two weeks, Stryuk said on Saturday evening. The city’s “humanitarian aid center” had stopped working, he added.
Gajdaj had previously stated that the Russian army was “quite simply destroying the city”. They entered the outskirts of the city, where they suffered “heavy casualties” while Ukrainian troops tried to drive the Russians out of a hotel.
He was referring to a police representative from the pro-Russian separatist region of Luhansk who, according to the Ria Novosti news agency, said on Friday that Severodonetsk was “currently surrounded”.
May 29, 2022, 2:30 a.m.: According to the authorities, several civilians were killed or wounded in attacks on Ukrainian locations. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy accused Russia of “new terror”. These are “senseless, barbaric attacks” with rockets and mortars, he said in a video speech on Saturday.
The Ukrainian army said it had repelled Russian attacks. 33 “occupiers” were killed and 6 armored vehicles destroyed. The information is not independently verifiable.
The city of Sievjerodonetsk in the Donbass was particularly hard fought. Russian troops are trying to gain a foothold there, Ukrainian military expert Oleh Zhdanov said, according to Unian agency. According to Luhansk Governor Serhiy Hajdaj, the city is still under the Ukrainian flag. He contradicted reports from Russia that Sievjerodonetsk was completely taken.
Meanwhile, in the port city of Mariupol, which was conquered by Russia, Mayor Vadym Boychenko warned of the risk of infectious diseases. The sewage system and garbage disposal no longer worked, and the temperatures rose. “Therefore, our doctors report the danger that may arise this summer: outbreaks of infectious diseases such as dysentery and others,” Boychenko said.
11.46 a.m .: According to Russian information, the city of Lyman in eastern Ukraine has been taken. According to the Ministry of Defense in Moscow, it is completely under the control of Russian troops and their allied units of the People’s Republic of Donetsk. Pro-Russian separatists from the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic had previously announced that they would conquer Lyman. The Ukrainian military had also admitted a setback.
You can read more reports on the Ukraine conflict on the following pages.
