Ukraine airstrike reported in Russia - Putin probably fires senior military

Created: 05/19/2022Updated: 05/19/2022 13:27

By: Bettina Menzel, Katharina Haase

The Ukraine war continues, Zelenskyj expects long fighting.

But Putin is apparently dissatisfied: Two high-ranking military officers have probably been fired.

The news ticker.

• Escalated

  Ukraine conflict

  :

  Revenge for the sinking of the Moskva?

  Putin apparently dismisses high-ranking generals

• The Ukrainian President Zelenskyj

  is preparing the population for further weeks of war

• Apparently high-ranking Russian officers killed: Ukrainian army reports gaining territory near Kharkiv

• This 

  news ticker on the military situation in the Ukraine war

   is continuously updated.

Update from May 19, 12:05 p.m .:

The governor of the western Russian region of Kursk has accused Ukraine of shelling a village near the border.

A civilian was killed in the village of Tjotkino on Thursday night (May 19), Governor Roman Starovoit wrote in the Telegram news service.

A number of houses were also damaged.

According to Russian sources, Tjotkino was already attacked on Wednesday (May 18).

The Belgorod region, which is also close to the border, had also reported shelling.

Ukraine initially did not comment on the allegations.

Russia, which started the Ukraine war itself, has been complaining about Ukrainian attacks on its own territory for weeks.

Ukraine War: Red Cross registers hundreds of POWs from Azov steel mill

Update from May 19, 10:47 a.m .:

The International Committee of the Red Cross has registered hundreds of Ukrainian prisoners of war from the Azov steel plant in Mariupol.

The Red Cross announced this in a statement on Thursday.

At the request of Russia and Ukraine, an ICRC team on the ground began collecting personal information from Ukrainian fighters leaving the steelworks on Tuesday.

Among them were the wounded.

According to the ICRC, the procedure serves to track where the prisoners of war are - and to help them stay in contact with their relatives.

The ICRC stated that it was not involved in the transport of prisoners of war and referred to the obligation of all states party to the Geneva Conventions to grant the Red Cross access to prisoners of war.

Ukrainian soldiers who, according to Russian sources, surrendered at the Azov steelworks, are lined up in Mariupol in front of Russian soldiers.

© Russian Defense Ministry/Imago

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Update from May 19,

10:08 a.m .: According to Russian information, 1,730 fighters from the besieged Azovstal steelworks have surrendered in the Ukrainian port of Mariupol since the beginning of the week.

In the past 24 hours alone, more than 770 Ukrainians have been captured, the Defense Ministry in Moscow said on Thursday.

There was initially no confirmation from the Ukrainian side.

Russia's Ukraine problems: Putin is now likely to fire senior military officials

Update from May 19, 9:26 a.m .:

Russian President Vladimir Putin apparently dismissed two senior Russian military officers in the Ukraine war.

According to British intelligence, the commander of the Russian Black Sea Fleet, Igor Osipov, has been relieved of his post.

This was announced by the British Ministry of Defense on Twitter.

The Black Sea Fleet lost its flagship "Moskva" in mid-April - according to the Ukrainian account, by being fired with two rockets.

According to British sources, the Putin government also deposed Russian Lieutenant General Sergei Kissel after unsuccessful attacks in the Kharkiv region.

There was no confirmation of this from the Russian side.

The Ukrainian secret service recently reported on the alleged dismissal of the two high-ranking military officers.

It was also noticed that Ossipov was absent from the May 9 military parade marking the 77th anniversary of the end of World War II in Sevastopol on the annexed Black Sea peninsula of Crimea.

British intelligence estimates that many Russian military officials are increasingly preoccupied with denying responsibility for setbacks.

"This will likely further increase the pressure on the centralized Russian command structures," the statement said.

The pool photo released by Russia's state-run Sputnik news agency via AP shows Vladimir Putin, President of Russia, attending a wreath-laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier following the "Victory Day" military parade.

© Anton Novoderezhkin/dpa

War in Ukraine: Selenskyj prepares population for further weeks of war

Update from May 19, 6:53 a.m .:

In Kiev, President Volodymyr Zelenskyj prepared the population for a continuing war and pleaded for the extension of martial law by 90 days until August.

"Our army and everyone defending the state must have all the legal means to act calmly," said the head of state in a video speech late Wednesday evening.

The situation on the individual fronts in Ukraine remained largely unchanged.

In the east, Russian troops are still trying to fully capture the Donetsk and Luhansk regions.

The severity of the attacks is also reflected in the deaths of 15 civilians in the region on Wednesday, the Ukrainian army said.

At least one child was also killed.

More attacks by Russia in Ukraine: Zelenskyj calls for extension of martial law

For their part, the Ukrainian forces claimed to have recaptured another village to the north of the city of Kharkiv.

In the past few weeks, the Ukrainian army has said it has pushed the Russian troops in the north and north-east of Kharkov further and further towards the border.

Like most military reports on both sides, this information was not immediately verifiable.

According to information from Kiev, Russian troops also shelled the north-east Ukrainian regions of Sumy and Chernihiv from their own territory.

Russia, in turn, blamed Ukraine for shelling the border village of Tyotkino and other places in the Kursk region.

Update from May 18, 9:44 p.m .:

According to information from Kiev, Russian troops fired on Wednesday from Russian territory at the north-eastern Ukrainian regions of Sumy and Chernihiv.

The Ukrainian border guard reported seven attacks using heavy machine guns, automatic grenade launchers, and tube and rocket artillery.

The village of Shostka near the border in the Sumy region was shelled with mortars for more than an hour.

But there were no victims.

The reports were initially not independently verifiable.

War in Ukraine: Ukrainian army apparently gaining territory near Kharkiv

Update from May 18, 8:30 p.m .:

According to its own statements, the Ukrainian army has made another gain in territory in the eastern Ukrainian metropolis of Kharkiv.

Due to an advance, the village of Dementijivka was liberated north of the city of millions, the general staff said on Facebook on Wednesday.

The village is about eight kilometers from the Russian border.

In recent weeks, the Ukrainian army has pushed back Russian troops in northern and north-eastern Kharkiv.

However, the Russian military is said to be attempting a counterattack near Ternowa, north-east of Kharkiv.

On the border with the Donetsk region in eastern Ukraine, there was also fighting for the village of Dowhenke, about 25 kilometers from Sloviansk.

Heavy fighting continued at Lyman, Bakhmut, Avdiivka and at Sievjerodonetsk in the neighboring Luhansk region.

The Russian troops would be supported by heavy Luftwaffe bombardments at various sectors.

However, they would not have achieved territorial gains.

Soldiers patrol during the Ukraine war.

The Ukrainian army is said to have made another territorial gain.

© Mstyslav Chernov / dpa

Ukraine War: Russia lays claim to Zaporizhia

Update from May 18, 7:12 p.m .:

 Russia wants to tie the partially conquered Zaporizhia region in south-eastern Ukraine to itself in the future.

"I think the perspective of the region lies in working in our harmonious Russian family," said Russian Deputy Prime Minister Marat Chusnullin, according to the RBK news agency, during a visit to the small town of Melitopol, which is occupied by the Russian military.

The regional capital of Zaporizhia itself is still controlled by Ukrainian troops.

Chusnullin had already laid claims to this region on Monday during a visit to the Kherson region west of Zaporizhia.

The Kremlin, on the other hand, has so far only officially announced the "liberation" of the eastern Ukrainian regions of Donetsk and Luhansk as a war goal.

A few weeks ago, however, a Russian commander disclosed plans by the Moscow military to incorporate all of southern Ukraine - which would give Russia a land connection to the Black Sea peninsula of Crimea, which was annexed in 2014.

Ukraine-News: Ukrainian President Zelenskyj wants to extend martial law

Update from May 18, 6:57 p.m .:

The Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyj wants to have the martial law imposed because of the Russian invasion and the mobilization ordered in the Ukraine war extended by three months.

The corresponding draft laws were published on Wednesday.

After the confirmation by the deputies, which is considered certain, the state of war will apply until August 23.

A day later, Ukraine traditionally celebrates its Independence Day.

Zelenskyi first declared the state of war on February 24 - a few hours after Russia's attack - and then had it extended twice by 30 days each.

The general mobilization, on the other hand, applied immediately for 90 days.

Many experts see the duration of the state of war as an indicator of how long Kyiv is currently preparing for possible fighting.

Ukraine War: Russian troops attack in Donbass at night - Ukrainian army lacks night vision capabilities

First report

: Kiev – In the Ukraine war, the Russian army in the Donbass is now allegedly using new tactics.

According to a report by the US magazine

on Tuesday, Russian troops are increasingly attacking at night because the Ukrainian army is not adequately equipped.

Moscow apparently wants to overrun Ukrainian positions.

In some cases, Russian special units are also said to be in action.

The Kremlin is also trying to use its numerical advantage to cause losses on the Ukrainian side.

"We need a lot of drones, including [...] thermal imaging drones, because a lot of things happen at night," said Tymofiy Mylovanov, adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and former economy minister.

Without night vision capabilities of its own, Ukraine would not be able to fight back, the adviser said, according to

.

Ukraine War: Russia appears to focus efforts on cities of Izyum and Lyman

According to a US defense official, Ukraine has already stationed 74 of the 90 M777 howitzer artillery units provided by the United States in Donbass.

Russia has in recent days begun to focus its efforts in northern Donbass on the cities of Izyum and Lyman, the senior Pentagon official, who asked to remain anonymous, said.

Russian troops are also said to have made small advances west of the city of Donetsk.

We need [...] thermal imaging drones because a lot of things happen at night

Tymofiy Mylovanov, adviser to Volodymyr Zelenskyy

Ukraine guerrillas allegedly kill Russian officers

According to information from the Ukrainian newspaper

, Ukrainian guerrilla fighters have recently also killed high-ranking Russian officers.

According to the report, the fighters come from Melitopol in southern Ukraine.

Moscow is trying to “cover up this situation,” the Zaporizhia regional military administration said Tuesday (May 17) on its Telegram channel.

The information could not initially be verified by an independent party.

Russia is probably losing generals in Ukraine - also because of US intelligence information

Ukrainians have repeatedly reported killing Russian generals on the ground since the invasion of Ukraine began on February 24.

According to the

, "many" of the dozen or so Russian commanders who were killed were said to have fallen into the crosshairs of Ukrainian forces thanks to US information.

The newspaper referred to "high-ranking government officials".

So far, the Biden government has remained silent about specific intelligence information that it provides to the Ukrainian military - so as not to endanger its own sources and not to give Russia an excuse for allegations

According to British intelligence, Russia is also deploying high-ranking military officers in combat due to heavy losses in its own troops.

This leads to disproportionately high losses among the Russian generals, the report continues.

is then missing in many places

.