Russo-Ukraine War - 08 May 2022 - Day 74
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On 24 February 2022, Ukraine was suddenly and deliberately attacked by land, naval and air forces of Russia, igniting the largest European war since the Great Patriotic War. The military buildup in preceeding months makes it obvious that the unprovoked and dastardly Russian attack was deliberately planned long in advance. During the intervening time, the Russian government had deliberately sought to deceive the world by false statements and expressions of hope for continued peace.
"To initiate a war of aggression... is not only an international crime; it is the supreme international crime differing only from other war crimes in that it contains within itself the accumulated evil of the whole." [Judgment of the International Military Tribunal]
Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a "special military operation" in Ukraine in response to the appeal of the leaders of the "Donbass republics" for help. That attack is a blatant violation of the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Ukraine. Putin stressed that Moscow's goal is the demilitarization and denazification of the country.
The seventy-fourth day of the heroic opposition of the Ukrainian people to the Russian military invasion continues. May 8 in Ukraine is the Day of Remembrance and Victory over Nazism in the Second World War. May 8 is a memorial day set to honor the heroism of the Ukrainian people and their contribution to the victory of the anti-Hitler coalition in World War II. The illegal and unprovoked invasion of Ukraine is continuing. President Putin’s war of choice has shattered the peace and stability in Europe built over the past seven decades since VE-day.
Russia's full-scale aggression against Ukraine significantly affected the perception of ideological issues, especially those related to "common" Soviet history. The war was the impetus for most Ukrainians to finally say goodbye to the Soviet past. According to a study by the sociological group "Rating", at the end of April this year in Ukraine recorded the lowest in the history of observations of nostalgia for the collapse of the USSR - 11%. While the vast majority of 87% - do not regret it. All Soviet narratives are now clearly associated with Russia's desire to return to a kind of "USSR 2.0" - and, therefore, is perceived by most Ukrainians as hostile. Interestingly, assessing the current Ukrainian-Russian war, three quarters of respondents believe that Ukrainian soldiers and officers today protect both the people of Ukraine and the peoples of Europe, and only 22% - that only the people of Ukraine.
The war also changed the views of Ukrainians regarding the rethinking of memorable dates, which also had an ideological Soviet connotation in the past. One of the key changes in historical memory is the reassessment of the attitude to Victory Day on May 9. If by 2022 this holiday was perceived by the absolute majority (80%) of the adult population as having significant personal symbolism, in 2022 for a large part of respondents it became a relic of the past (36%), or everyday life (23%). Now, for 80% of Ukrainians, May 9 is about remembering and honoring the victims of World War II. Only 15% still consider this date a day of victory, although 4 years ago there were 58% of Ukrainians surveyed.
The North Atlantic Alliance is waging war against Russia through the hands of Ukrainian militants, Roscosmos CEO Dmitry Rogozin said. Rogozin published a fragment of his interview to the Rossiya-24 TV channel. “NATO is waging war against us. She didn't announce it, but that doesn't change anything. Now it's obvious to everyone. The Ukrainian national battalions and the Armed Forces of Ukraine are consumables, cannon fodder for NATO, they are only operators trained by NATO instructors who press the levers and buttons of NATO weapons,” the head of Roscosmos emphasized. He added that Russia and NATO should not be allowed to exchange nuclear strikes. Therefore, it is necessary to win by conventional armed means. Rogozin stressed that such a victory is possible only with the mobilization of the economy and the full solidarity of the whole country with the army.
Russian President Vladimir Putin pledged that “as in 1945, victory will be ours” as he congratulated former Soviet nations on Victory Day. “Today, our soldiers, as their ancestors, are fighting side by side to liberate their native land from the Nazi filth with the confidence that, as in 1945, victory will be ours,” Putin said. “Today, it is our common duty to prevent the rebirth of Nazism which caused so much suffering to the peoples of different countries,” said Putin. He added he hoped “new generations may be worthy of the memory of their fathers and grandfathers”.
The North Atlantic Alliance will not become a "party to the conflict" in Ukraine. This was stated by German Chancellor Olaf Scholz during a television address. Scholz said he strongly believes Russia won't win its war in Ukraine. His remarks came as the conflict overshadows commemorations to mark the end of World War II in Europe. Scholz on Sunday warned that there can be "no peace under Russian dictatorship" in Ukraine during a speech to mark the 77th anniversary of the end of World War II in Europe.
"Ukraine will not accept that, and neither will we," Scholz said, according to the text released by his office of the speech that aired on German TV. The chancellor said he is "convinced" that Russian President Vladimir Putin would not win the conflict, which began on February 24. "Ukraine will prevail. Freedom and security will win the day – just as freedom and security triumphed over oppression, violence and dictatorship 77 years ago," he added.
Scholz also recalled how Russians and Ukrainians once fought together and made great sacrifices to defeat Germany's "murderous National Socialist regime." But now, "Putin wants to overthrow Ukraine and destroy its culture and identity... [and] even regards his barbaric war of aggression as being on a par with the fight against National Socialism," Scholz said. "That is a falsification of history and a disgraceful distortion. We have an obligation to state this clearly," the chancellor added.
The chancellor also spoke in his speech of four clear principles at play in German foreign policy over the war: Firstly, he said, Germany would not take unilateral action. "Whatever we do, we coordinate closely with our Alliance partners," he said. Secondly, Germany will work to maintain its own defense capability. "Thirdly, we will not do anything that could inflict more damage on ourselves and our partners than on Russia," Scholz added. "And fourthly: we will not take any decision that makes NATO a party to the war. We stand by these principles." But in reference to pressure on Germany to speed up the transition from Russian natural gas imports, Scholz said Berlin was "not simply doing all the things that some people are calling for."
"For in the oath I took upon assuming office, I swore to protect the German people from harm. That includes protecting our country and our allies from danger," he said.
German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier spoke at the opening of the national convention of the German Trade Union Confederation (DGB) in Berlin to mark the occasion. He said that May 8 had long been a "day of hope" as well as commemoration. "But today, on this 8th of May, the dream of a common European house has failed and been replaced by a nightmare," Steinmeier said, referring to Russia's invasion of Ukraine as a "brutal, illegal war of aggression." He said the war in Ukraine broke "with many things that seemed to us beyond question," calling it an "epochal turning point." Russian President Vladimir Putin was "once and for all destroying the basis of the European blueprint for lasting peace that we created after the Second World War and the Cold War," Steinmeier said.
The Russians continued full-scale armed aggression against Ukraine. The Russians did not cease offensive operations in the Eastern Operational Zone in order to establish full control over the territory of Donetsk, Luhansk and Kherson regions and maintain the land corridor between these territories and the occupied Crimea. The Russians's main efforts were to destroy the airfield infrastructure in order to prevent the actions of Ukrainian aircraft, including the Bayraktar UAV, to support the actions of air units in the area of responsibility of the Allied Forces and in the Black Sea Operational Zone.
Increase in the intensity of operational and tactical aviation over the northwestern Black Sea was noted. In the Volyn and Polissya directions, the Russians did not take active action.
Until 27 May 2022, training meetings of territorial defense units are being held in the Minsk district with the involvement of conscripts who are in reserve. There is a possibility that the units of the armed forces of the Russian Federation will launch missile and bomb strikes on the infrastructure of Ukraine from the territory and airspace of the Republic of Belarus. The Russians did not take active action in the northern direction. Intensified units of the Border Guard Service, as well as units of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, continue to be detained at checkpoints and in the border areas of the Bryansk and Kursk oblasts. In the future, fire damage to units of Ukrainian troops and infrastructure facilities in border areas is not ruled out.
In the Slobozhansky direction, the Russians were concentrating reserves in the Belgorod region for hostilities near the state border of Ukraine. The deployment of separate units from the 1st Tank Army of the Western Military District was confirmed in these areas. The Russians did not carry out active offensive operations in the Kharkiv direction. The main efforts were focused on preventing the advance of Ukrainian troops. The group was strengthened by relocating units from the Western Military District from the area of recovery. Military and civilian infrastructure continued to be shelled.
In the Izyum direction, the Russians regrouped their units, replenished its reserves in order to increase its offensive capabilities and conducted air reconnaissance with the use of the Orlan-10 UAV in order to clarify the positions of Ukrainian troops.
In the Donetsk and Tavriya directions, the Russians were fighting to restrain the actions of units of the Defense Forces. During the last day, the Russians intensified hostilities. It was trying to reach the administrative borders of Luhansk and Donetsk regions. Carried out regrouping, replenishment of losses, increased air defense systems and logistics, presumably in order to intensify hostilities in the settlements of Severodonetsk and Lysychansk.
On the Lyman direction by forces of separate divisions from structure of the 90th tank division tried to take under full control the settlement of Alexandrovka, as well as with the support of artillery to gain a foothold in the northern outskirts of the village Shandrygolovo. This was not successful. In the Severodonetsk direction, the Russians is trying to seize the settlement of Rubizhne, but without success. In the Popasna direction, they were trying to take up positions in the settlement of Popasna and take control of the section of the Popasna-Bakhmut highway.
The Russian offensive in the direction of the village of Novoselivka had no success, but fighting continued. In the Kurakhiv direction, they were trying to improve the tactical situation in the direction of the settlement of Novomykhailivka, but had no success. In the South Bug area, the Russians were trying to hold positions with forces of up to 15 battalion tactical groups, but did not carry out active hostilities. Russians carried out mortar shelling, artillery and rocket-propelled grenade launchers of the positions of Ukrainian troops, and carried out replenishment of losses. They used army aircraft in the area of the settlement of Career.
In the Mariupol direction, the intensity of hostilities was reduced. Armed fighters at the besieged Azovstal steel plant have pledged to continue fighting “for as long as we are alive”. “We will continue to fight as long as we are alive to repel the Russian occupiers,” Sviatoslav Palamar, a deputy commander of Ukraine’s far-right Azov Regiment, told an online conference. “We don’t have much time, we are coming under intense shelling,” he added.
Measures of the administrative-police regime in the temporarily occupied territories are underway. Thus, there is an intensification of filtering activities by units of the Rosguard in the areas of settlements Heroic, Gola Prystan, Kherson. There is a possibility that assault operations will be carried out in certain areas in order to improve the tactical situation, bind Ukrainian troops and prevent the transfer of reserves.
The moral and psychological condition of the Russians remains low, there is a systematic use of alcohol and desertion. The personnel of the Russians's units complain about the ineffectiveness of their attacks on the position of the Defense Forces of Ukraine in the Huliaipole area.
Armament and military equipment from the United States and Western countries were destroyed by the Russian Aerospace Forces in the area of the settlement of Soledar, spokesman for the Russian Defense Ministry Igor Konashenkov told reporters. During the special operation in Ukraine , “the weapons and military equipment delivered to the Sol railway station from the United States and Western countries, as well as the personnel of the reserve units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, were destroyed ,” said a representative of the Russian Defense Ministry. He also added that the Russian Aerospace Forces hit 19 areas of concentration of manpower and military equipment of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. They also destroyed six depots of rocket and artillery weapons in the DPR (in the regions of Krasnaya Gora, Verkhnekamenka, Mayaki), in the LPR (Novodruzhevsk), in the Kharkov region (Reznikovo and Nikolaevka).
Russian missile forces destroyed the Ukrainian anti-aircraft missile system (SAM) "Osa-AKM" near Nikolaev. The Russian missile forces also destroyed a radar station for detecting air targets near the village of Velikaya Korenikha, Mykolaiv region, and a Smerch multiple launch rocket system near Soledar. Another six command posts of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) were hit by Russian artillery units. Russian artillery also hit 179 areas of concentration of manpower and military equipment of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, 28 Ukrainian artillery units in firing positions, as well as two ammunition depots.
A video recording of the destruction of a pontoon crossing of Kyiv militants with high-precision missiles during a special operation of the Russian Armed Forces to denazify Ukraine was released by the Russian Defense Ministry. It is specified that a pontoon crossing of Ukrainian armed formations, which was built to transfer a reserve of armored vehicles and personnel, was destroyed by a missile strike. On the footage posted on the Internet, taken from a drone, it can be seen how, after being hit by a high-precision Russian missile, the pontoon crossing of Ukrainian militants goes under water.
In the Lugansk People's Republic (LPR), the city of Popasnaya has been completely liberated from Ukrainian security forces. This was announced by the head of Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov , in his Telegram channel.
Russian servicemen participating in a special operation in Ukraine received letters of support and good wishes from veterans of the Great Patriotic War. Envelopes from the regions were delivered and handed over to the fighters in the liberated Kherson region and Melitopol by volunteers #WeTogether from among the members of the ONF Youth, headed by State Duma deputy, head of the All-Russian team Igor Kastyukevich. With the idea to support the morale of those who liberate the territories from the Nazis, members of the ONF Youth came forward. Since April 20, at the initiative of the team, the action "To the Hero of Our Time" has been held in Russia. In every region of the country, volunteers, along with students and schoolchildren, help veterans write letters to the Russian military. Messages from a generation of heroes to today's heroes will be given to those who are on the front lines or in military hospitals. The first letters have already been received by servicemen who are doing their duty in the Kherson region and Melitopol.
“I handed over to our fighters the letters that veterans of the Great Patriotic War wrote to them. Each read his own, in silence. About myself. Then they folded them up and tucked them carefully into my breast pocket. Closer to the heart. And Mikhalych, the driver, attached his letter to the windshield of the car so that he could always see,” said Igor Kastyukevich, State Duma deputy, head of the ONF Youth. The military received letters from veterans from the Chechen Republic, Lipetsk, Orenburg, Chelyabinsk, Magadan, Tver, Leningrad regions, as well as from a schoolboy from the Sverdlovsk region.
The All-Russian motor rally "For a world without Nazism" arrived in the hero city of Kerch, the head of the Republic of Crimea Sergey Aksyonov wrote about this in a telegram channel. “The All-Russian rally “For a world without Nazism” has arrived on the Crimean land, in the hero city of Kerch. Its participants are fulfilling an important mission, demonstrating our unity and broad popular support for the decision of our president and our soldiers who are participating in a special military operation,” the head of Crimea wrote. The rally "For a world without Nazism" started on April 12 from Vladivostok. The rally will be completed by its participants, who have covered thousands of kilometers, on May 9 in the hero cities of Volgograd and Sevastopol.
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