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The 436th day since the start of the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine was marked by tensions in Russia’s military defenses on the eve of Victory Day celebrations over Nazi Germany. The Wagner mercenary company has announced that it will leave the Bakhmut Front on May 10 because the Ministry of Defense has refused it ammunition. The company’s owner, Yevgueni Prigozhin, accompanied these words with a record of dozens of bodies of soldiers, for whose deaths he blames Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu. The latter, for his part, responded by showing himself in a video with weapons destined for Ukraine.
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For his part, Chechen leader Ramzán Kadírov said this Friday that he would replace the mercenaries of the Wagner group in Bakhmut with his special forces. Kadyrov made these statements after his boss, Yevgeny Prigozhin, announced his early withdrawal from the area due to a lack of Russian ammunition. Everyone is waiting for the upcoming Ukrainian counter-offensive, which is beginning to leave its mark on the front.
Ukraine denounced this Friday that Russia has massively bombarded parts of the city of Bakhmut it still doesn’t control with white phosphorus, a substance which, although it has certain permitted uses, can also be used as an incendiary weapon, which has been banned is the Geneva Convention. In central and eastern Ukraine, anti-aircraft alarms warned the population of possible attacks this Friday. A 58-hour curfew has come into effect in Kherson province, along with a total ban on movement, entry and exit. This is an exceptional measure to carry out what Ukraine calls an operation to identify possible collaborators who are providing intelligence to the enemy.
The governor of the occupying forces in the Zaporizhia province, Yevgeny Balitski, reported this Friday that he had ordered the evacuation of civilians in 18 towns close to the front. This year, the traditional May 9 parade is being held amid extraordinary security measures after Russia says it was a May 3 drone strike on the Kremlin. The Russian presidency said this week that the agenda for celebrations of the Soviet victory over Nazi Germany in 1945 would remain intact despite the attack, which Moscow described as a “terrorist attack”. However, around twenty Russian cities have already canceled the military parade for security reasons.
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