Timeline: day 96 of Ukraine's defense against russia's aggression
Today is May 30. russia's military attack on Ukraine has been going on for 96 days. We're reporting on the current news. The article will be updated.
What about today?
Key points
Ukrainian soldiers continue to eliminate russian invaders! During the past 24hrs, the Ukrainian Armed Forces repulsed 14 russian attacks in the Donbas. Ukrainian soldiers destroyed:
- Two artillery systems;
- Eleven armored combat vehicles;
- Ten enemy motor vehicles;
- Two Kh-59MK cruise missiles;
- Three Kub drones.
On May 29, Ukraine's Air Force destroyed 5 UAVs, two cruise missiles, a battalion tactical group, and an ammunition depot near the village of Dovhenke in the Izium direction.
Sievierodonetsk remains under the control of the Ukrainian army, despite statements by putin's assassins about capturing the city. Ukrainian defenders even conducted a minor counterattack and drove russian militants out of Toshkivka.
The Ukrainian troops destroyed one enemy Orlan-10 UAV in the south of Ukraine during reconnaissance. Enemy losses:
- 67 ruscists;
- 6 T-62 tanks, 2 Grad MLRS;
- 3 Msta self-propelled howitzers;
- Three armored vehicles and thirteen motor vehicles.
The Ukrainian forces also destroyed the unmanned reconnaissance command post and the command post of one of the enemy units.
The Ukrainian counteroffensive in the northwest of the Kherson region has forced russian troops to take up defensive positions and is likely to hamper russian efforts to effectively dig in and strengthen control over the occup
ied territories along the southern axis, the Institute for War Studies said in a daily report.
The total loss of enemy force as of the morning of May 30 is 30,350 soldiers. Only for yesterday, this amount increased by 200!
Now imagine what will happen to the russian army when all the powerful weapons sent to Ukraine by the partners reach the frontline!
We believe in the Ukrainian Armed Forces and look forward to heavy weapons from the allies. The Ukrainian authorities have concluded all possible agreements on the supply of weapons, but their implementation takes time, Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar said. According to her, the weapons supply process is lengthy. She advised Ukrainians to be patient because the supply of weapons is not a simple purchase in a store.
Zelensky published another selection of photos on the day when Ukrainian schools needed to finish the school year: "This year, instead of the last call, the school kids hear the sound of a siren. The occupiers have damaged more than 1,800 educational institutions across Ukraine, leaving broken windows and damaged school desks. Life froze in school classrooms on February 23. But no matter how difficult it is now, Ukrainians cannot be broken. We will fight, develop, and learn for the sake of freedom and our future victory," the President commented on a selection of photos.
60% of Ukrainians who left the country have already returned home, the adviser to the Interior Minister Viktor Andrusiv said.
Ukraine's talks with russia
Zelensky is ready to consider joint telephone talks with putin and Turkish President Erdogan. ZN.UA reports, citing Zelensky's spokesperson Serhii Nykyforov.
Humanitarian missions
The Ukrainian authorities officially stopped the evacuation from the Luhansk region. russian occupiers fired on an evacuation vehicle, killing a French journalist. "Today, our armored evacuation vehicle was going to pick up ten people from the region and came under enemy fire. Shell shrapnel pierced the car's armor. An accredited French journalist making a piece about the evacuation received a fatal wound to the neck; a helmet rescued a patrol police officer. We are officially stopping the evacuation," said Serhii Haidai, head of the Luhansk Regional Department. A few weeks ago, Haidai persuaded people to leave the dangerous area; evacuation buses left the Luhansk region half-empty.
UPD: The French journalist who died near Sievierodonetsk is Frederic Leclerc-Imhoff. He worked for BFMTV.
Who's coming to Ukraine?
On financial and information aid, weapons and politicians
Poland can become a guarantor of Ukraine's security after the end of the war with russia. President Andrzej Duda announced his readiness to make this decision in an interview with Farid Zakaria on CNN. Today, Poland is one of our main allies and partners who are very helpful to Ukrainian citizens. Real brothers.
French diplomacy, represented by Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna, arrived on the Ukrzaliznytsia train to the Ukrainian capital to meet with Volodymyr Zelensky. To recap, French President Emmanuel Macron offered the President of Ukraine to make concessions and give up part of the territories in exchange for a cessation of hostilities. We will find out what France will offer this time after the meeting.
Here is the result of the meeting: "The idea of the European Political Union, which Germany and France proposed before Ukraine would join the European Union, is not a substitute for Ukraine's EU membership. France agrees to grant Ukraine EU candidate status and promises to work to build the necessary consensus on Ukraine's EU membership in all European Union countries," said Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba at a joint briefing with French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna.
Slovakia will hand over eight Zuzana 2 self-propelled artillery units to Ukraine; they have a 155-mm caliber and can strike up to 40 km. Ukrainian artillerymen are already mastering these howitzers.
British Defense Ministry announces the creation of an innovation fund to support the Ukrainian Armed Forces. The Ministry of Defense calls on British industry to accelerate the development of equipment for the Ukrainian army, creating a campaign fund of 25 million pounds to develop and supply equipment to the country in the coming weeks. The competition will strengthen existing artillery, coastal, and aviation systems.
The United Kingdom has already provided Ukraine with more than £2.8 billion in humanitarian aid and grants and military equipment, including 120 armored vehicles, air defense systems, and more than 6,500 anti-tank missiles.
Norway's Mistrals are already in Ukraine! The Armed Forces of Ukraine have started using Mistral MANPADS. These are short-range anti-aircraft-guided missiles equipped with an infrared homing head. They allow our military to create mobile air defense groups and hit air targets with a thermal signature.
News from partners
The Day of Ukrainian Culture was held in Tallinn, organized by the International Estonian Women Association and the Tallinn TV Tower Foundation. The organizers will hand over the raised funds to the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
Polish President Andrzej Duda has said he plans to increase defense spending because many Poles are "afraid of a russian attack." Duda told CNN that he hoped to grow his country's troop numbers in the coming years.
The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Boris Johnson, assured that his country "stands side by side with its Ukrainian friends" and supports Ukraine in the fight against russia. He stated this in greeting the second international charity telethon, Save Ukraine, which took place simultaneously in the capitals of Kyiv and Berlin.
Following russia's attack on Ukraine, NATO is no longer bound by past commitments to refrain from deploying forces in Eastern Europe, said Allied Under-Secretary-General Mircea Geoană. Geoană says russia has effectively departed from the terms of the 1997 agreement. According to him, by invading Ukraine, Moscow "deprived" the NATO-Russia Fundamental Act "of any meaning" and suspended dialogue with the Alliance.
A rally against russia's war in Ukraine took place in the South Korean capital Seoul yesterday. Peace with Ukraine! Together we are a force!
Sanctions on the aggressor!
To date, 1,033 global companies have left russia, and another 430 have suspended operations because of putin's war with Ukraine.
The High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, believes that the conflict in Ukraine will be protracted, so he called for further sanctions against russia. "We must persevere. The war will be long, and the aggressiveness of russia's actions will increase. We must continue to provide Ukraine with means of combat and exert economic pressure on russia," Borrell told France Info radio. According to him, "the russian economy is already beginning to shut down," and further pressure on Moscow will provide Kyiv with a more favorable position in future peace talks.
Life considering hostilities
The Ukrainians in Warsaw organized a rally of gratitude to the Polish people for their help in resisting russian aggression and accepting refugees.
The Ukrainian parliament, Verkhovna Rada, has registered a bill proposing to cancel the state registration of medications imported from abroad temporarily. Thus, the authors of the project expect to overcome the shortage of medicines in the country.
The Kalush Orchestra will receive a new crystal microphone. The Eurovision website reported. To recap, the winners of Eurovision-2022, together with Serhii Prytula, a Ukrainian presenter and volunteer, sold their crystal award at auction for $900,000. All the funds will go to purchase a PD-2 drone complex for the Ukrainian army.
Kyiv and the region
Ukraine's National Guard sappers continue to de-mine the territory of the Kyiv region, which the Ukrainian army liberated from the occupying forces almost two months ago. The Guard sappers found and disposed of about 10.5 thousand explosive devices during this time. However, the work is still ongoing. There are still a lot of unexploded ordnance, mines, and tripwires in some areas that need to be disposed of.
Donetsk and Luhansk regions
The Joint Forces group informs: Over the past 24 hours, on May 29, russian troops fired on 46 settlements in Luhansk and Donetsk regions. The rescuers eliminated seven large fires caused by enemy shelling in Avdiivka and Lysychansk. The enemy destroyed and damaged 67 civilian objects.
Civilians are dying under enemy shelling: russian war criminals have killed four civilians in the Donetsk region and wounded two others. Information about the Luhansk region and some districts of the Donetsk region is being clarified.
Heavy fighting continues for Sievierodonetsk and Lysychansk. The occupiers are trying to move to the center of Sievierodonetsk. As a result of the russian shelling, two city residents were killed, and five others were injured. People were preparing food on the street when the shelling began. Two residents of the village of Syrotyne were also seriously injured.
As of evening, the occupiers have advanced into Sievierodonetsk; street fighting continues, the head of the Luhansk Regional State Administration, Serhii Haidai, said. He asked city residents to stay in the shelters.
Also, in Sievierodonetsk, the russians shot a car with two volunteers; they are wounded but safe. Three doctors have disappeared, the front part of their car is torn, and there is no connection with them, Serhiy Haidai reports. "It's dangerous to use the Lysychansk-Bakhmut route; we use safer options for evacuation and transportation of humanitarian goods."
In the cemetery near the village of Staryi Krym, near Mariupol, 25 new trenches with corpses have appeared in the last month. The russians place corpses in several layers in the trench and then "mask" them with crosses with plaques as individual burials to hide the real number of killed civilians. According to city officials, at least 16,000 Mariupol residents have been buried in mass graves since mid-April. Public utilities, by mid-March, buried another 5,000. Thus, the number of civilians killed by ruscists in Mariupol is estimated at 22,000 people, but there may be many more.
Because of the fighting, residents of the Donetsk region have been left without a centralized water supply. The Donbas Water Company has suspended its work.
A branch of the Togliatti-Odesa ammonia pipeline was damaged in the Bakhmut district due to hostilities. "This branch has not been used since 2014, the valves are closed, but ammonia is now flowing out of it. A cloud of ammonia is moving over the ground from the village of Travneve towards Bakhmut," said Pavlo Kyrylenko, head of the Donetsk Regional State Administration. Bakhmut, Hladosove, Dacha, Mykolaivka Druha, Odradivka and Opytne were at risk. There is no information about the victims at the moment.
20:30–The damage radius due to ammonia leakage is now no more than 4 km. As of now, ammonia has spread a little more than 2 km. The State Emergency Service units are keeping the situation under control. There is no threat to settlements.
Kharkiv region
In the Izium direction, the Ukrainian forces inflicted severe damage on the russian occupiers. In the area of Dolhenke, our combat aircraft destroyed the enemy's battalion tactical group; it was at least 100 military men. In addition, they bombed a warehouse with ammunition and armored vehicles, Ukraine's Air Force command reports. The attack was carried out with the help of a Su-25 attack aircraft and a Su-24M bomber.
The Ukrainian aviation launched an airstrike on the occupying forces in the area of Dovhenke, the head of the Kharkiv Regional Military Administration, Oleh Synehubov, said. "Ukrainian Su-25 combat aircraft and Su-24M bombers destroyed a battalion tactical group, ammunition depot, clusters of armored vehicles, and the russian military."
A new division of the Azov-Kharkiv Special Operations Forces has appeared in Ukraine. An Azov-Kharkiv Special Operations Forces unit was officially formed in Kharkiv on May 29. Anatolii Sydorenko has been appointed as commander. Soldiers of this unit have already begun to perform combat missions in the Kharkiv region. We believe in the Ukrainian Armed Forces!
Sumy region
This morning, enemy artillery from the russian village of Tiotkino fired three times at the border of the Sumy region. During one of the shellings, the enemy used artillery shells filled with flechettes. Steel rods from russian shells damaged buildings and property of residents in the Shostka district. It is worth noting that forensic experts found the same combat elements in the bodies of peaceful Ukrainians killed by ruscists in Bucha and Irpin.
Border guards also recorded three more shellings on the border of the Sumy region at night: 5 mortar shots from the russian village of Ponury and six shots from the MLRS from the village of Guyevo. In addition, enemy aircraft carried out two airstrikes on the territory of the Khotyn united territorial community.
Dnipropetrovsk region
Enemy artillery fired again at the Kryvyi Rih district. They hit the Zelenodolsk and Apostolove communities. People were not injured.
Zaporizhzhia region
In Melitopol, at around 7.50, a powerful explosion erupted in the city center. According to local media, the explosion occurred near the Kvartal shopping center, where there's a high-rise building where the russia-appointed pseudo-governor of the Zaporizhzhia region, Yevhen Balytskyi, lives. Also, this area houses the so-called "military-civil administration" of the occupiers and collaborators. The walls and windows of neighboring houses shook from the explosion, resulting in several wounded. The occupiers were scared. The central square of the city is fenced. Ruscists are bringing military equipment there, and air raid sirens sound. Citizens are currently watching black smoke clouds at the site of the blast. It is rumored that it was the work of saboteurs because Melitopol, temporarily occupied by the russians, has an active guerrilla movement. We are waiting for the details of the event, we hope for good news.
The Armed Forces of Ukraine have advanced in the southern part of Ukraine by 8-10 km, an adviser to the Minister of Internal Affairs Vadym Denysenko says. According to him, in some areas in the Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions, the Ukrainian military has advanced an average of 8-10 km. It is the data for the evening of May 29.
Kherson region
Postcards in Kherson
In the Kherson region, the Ukrainian army launched a counteroffensive. According to deputy Khlan, the UAF soldiers counterattacked in the Beryslav direction and advanced 9 kilometers.
Residents of Strilkovo, Henichesk district, refused to provide their data to local collaborators for an alleged UN census. Serhii Khlan, an adviser to the head of the Kherson military administration, said this on his Facebook page. "Although the local traitor collaborator Ponomariov and his deputy fooled people that it was information for the UN, no one believed this lie. The local 18-year-old boy said that if you're stupid, you should not make fools of people. Russians beat him. The boy was punched, but no one broke down or gave his information," the statement said.
It was restless again in Chornobaivka last night. The Ukrainian troops eliminated a russian ammunition depot for the 22nd time, and the detonation lasted at least an hour. Unfortunately, for the residents of Chornobaivka, houses and people suffer. It is impossible to evacuate from the Kherson region now; the ruscists blocked all roads.
In Kherson, unknown people set up a place in memory of the territorial defense fighters who died fighting for the city on March 1 in the park. Eternal memory to the heroes, defenders of native Kherson!
In Kherson and the region, the mobile service disappeared at about 6:10 pm; mobile phones and partly home internet are not working. The head of the Kherson military-civil administration, Hennadii Lahuta, said that the russian military cut the connection off.
At the same time, ruscist propagandists are spreading fakes that the Ukrainian authorities will disconnect the temporarily occupied Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions from Ukrainian mobile operators and Internet providers. The Center for Countering Disinformation reported this at the National Security and Defense Council.
Two good news appeared at the end of the day: "During the successful offensive of the Defense Forces, the enemy suffered losses and withdrew from the village of Mykolaivka, Kherson region, which led to panic among servicemen of other units of the russian Armed Forces," said the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
In Hola Prystan in the Kherson region, unknown patriots removed a tricolor russian rag from a flagpole and cut a rope to raise the flag.
Mykolaiv region
The city council reports that the occupiers fired on Novyi Buh, the Mykolaiv region, resulting in significant destruction in the city center. We are waiting for the details.
In Mykolaiv, as a result of the morning attack by the russian invaders on May 30, 21 private houses are damaged, and there is one wounded person. The mayor of Mykolaiv, Oleksandr Senkevych, reported about it. "Because of the morning attack of Mykolaiv by the russian occupiers, 21 private houses were damaged in one of the city districts. Primarily, it is roofs and windows. There are damages to external walls," Senkevych wrote. According to him, as of 2 p.m., the authorities know about one wounded man.
18:00 – The residents hear explosions on Mykolaiv; it's artillery shelling again, the mayor Oleksandr Senkevych reports.
Odesa region
At night and dawn, the russians fired two missiles at the Odesa region. "Desperately, they continue to destroy the non-functioning bridge across the Dniester estuary. The ruscists got into the same broken path earlier. The shock wave damaged several private houses. No one was injured. Air defense forces shot down one missile," the South Operational Command reports.
We should add that the ruscists don't take any measures to demine the sea, despite their statements that they will provide a corridor for exports.
