Ukraine Russia, Today’s War News May 7th

It was another difficult night in Ukraine. Air alerts went off overnight across much of the country and the defense shot down a number of drones, including one over Kiev airspace. Portal reported, citing Ukrainian officials. “During the last airstrike alert, an enemy reconnaissance drone was detected in the airspace of Kiev” and “destroyed,” the Kiev military administration said, adding that “there were no casualties or damage.”

Meanwhile, news of the attack on nationalist writer Zakhar Prilepin, known for his pro-Kremlin positions and support for the war in Ukraine, remains strong. The driver died while Prilepin was injured. According to Russian media, a man has been arrested for alleged involvement in the case, a citizen of Ukraine. The Russian investigative committee, which treats the case as a “terrorist act,” identified him as Oleksandr Permyakov and reported that he confessed to acting on orders from the Ukrainian special services; he reportedly admitted to planting a bomb on the street and then activating it remotely.

Russia, pro-Kremlin writer Prilepin was injured in his car explosion

Moscow pointed the finger at the United States and the United Kingdom through the mouth of State Department spokeswoman Maria Zakharova: “Washington and NATO have fueled another international terrorist cell, the Kiev regime. Bin Laden, Isis, now Zelensky and his henchmen. Direct responsibility of the United States and Great Britain. Let’s pray for Zakhar,” he wrote on Telegram.

While the partisan movement of Ukrainians and Crimean Tatars claimed Atesh responsibility for the attack, Kiev, through presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak, blamed Moscow, calling Prilepin a victim of the “Russian machinery of repression”. For former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, Deputy Chairman of the National Security Council, it was a “cowardly attack” by “Nazi extremists” who are trying to intimidate Russia and hit true patriots, but this crime “will not go unpunished.”

It is the third blast involving prominent pro-Kremlin figures since the start of the war in Ukraine. In August 2022, a car bomb on the outskirts of Moscow killed Daria Dugina, daughter of influential Russian political theorist Alexandr Dugin, often referred to as “Putin’s brain”; Russian authorities claimed Ukraine was behind the blast. Last month, an explosion at a St. Petersburg cafe killed well-known military blogger Vladlen Tatarsky; In this case, too, the authorities pointed the finger at the Ukrainian secret services.

Now Prilepin: Became a Putin supporter in 2014 after the Russian president declared the annexation of the Crimean Peninsula illegal. The writer was involved in the conflict in eastern Ukraine alongside Russian-backed separatists and was sanctioned by the European Union last year for his support of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. In 2020 he founded the political party “For the Truth”, which according to Russian media was backed by the Kremlin. A year later, Prilepin’s party merged with the nationalist Fair Russia party, which has seats in parliament.

In the meantime, on the ground in Ukraine, explosions have occurred in Crimeawhere the pro-Russian government reported on the shooting down of two Ukrainian Grom-2 ballistic missiles on the peninsula.

As for the situation in Bakhmut, The Ukrainians accused Russian troops of shelling the city with phosphorus ammunition. «The same situation occurred in Mariupol. If they can’t do anything, phosphorus ammunition will be fired,” said Petro Andriushchenko, adviser to the Mariupol mayor, releasing a video about it. Wagner Group chief Yevgeny Prigozhin, after Friday’s threat to leave Bakhmut on May 10, announced that he would hand over his posts in the city to Ramzan Kadyrov’s Chechen special forces Ahmat. «I am already contacting Kadyrov’s representatives to immediately start shifting positions so that on May 10 at 00.00, exactly at the moment when, according to our calculations, we will fully exploit the combat potential, our comrades will take our place and they will move on will attack the village of Bakhmut,” said Prigozhin.

Learn more

The case – Russia, Prilepin like Dugina and Tatarsky: expendable propaganda figures are disappearing one by one

The Story – Clinton’s Reveal: ‘That Day Putin Told Me It Was Only a Matter of Time for Ukraine’

Important points

• 08:05

  IAEA, concerned about the central situation in Zaporizhzhya

08:05

IAEA, concerned about the central situation in Zaporizhzhya

IAEA concerned about key situation in Zaporizhzhya = “The general situation around the Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant is becoming increasingly unpredictable and potentially dangerous”. IAEA chief Rafael Grossi said: “I am extremely concerned about the real risks the facility faces in terms of nuclear safety,” he added. While the nuclear power plant staff remains on site, IAEA experts “have received information that the announced evacuation of residents of the nearby town of Enerhodar, where most of the plant’s staff live – Grossi added – has begun and are closely monitoring the situation for potential impact on nuclear safety.” The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has repeatedly expressed concerns about the safety of the six-reactor facility in southern Ukraine since it was captured by Russian forces last year due to intensifying shelling by Ukrainian forces Russia has ordered families with children and the elderly to temporarily evacuate the nearby town of Enerhodar, an eviction order that also affects 18 other towns in the Zaporizhia region.

08:04

Night drone strikes in Crimea Governor Sevastopol repelled by defense forces

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Ukraine has launched a night attack using 10 drones in Crimea. According to the RIA Novosti agency, this was announced by the governor of Sevastopol, Mikhail Razvozhaev, on his Telegram channel. “At night, the air defense forces and electronic warfare systems – it is said – repelled another attack on Sevastopol. A UAV lost control and fell into a forest area, the wreckage was found by employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Ministry of Emergencies . No structures in the city were damaged”.

08:01

Ukraine: Anti-aircraft alert in country, drone shot down over Kiev

Anti-aircraft alarm deployed in large parts of Ukraine at night: the defense shot down several drones, including one over Kiev airspace. Portal reported, citing Ukrainian officials. “During the last air alert, an enemy reconnaissance drone was detected in Kiev airspace” and “destroyed,” said the Kiev military administration, adding that “there were no casualties or damage.”

01:09

Prigozhin, Operation Bakhmut Meat Grinder completed

“The Wagner Group’s ‘Meat Grinder Bakhmut’ operation is complete.” This was announced by the head of the private military company, as reported by the Ria Novosti agency, citing the Wagner press service. «It should be noted – explained Prigozhin – that the Bakhmut-meat grinder operation was not primarily intended to capture the Bakhmut settlement, but to “grind” units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and arrange a ceasefire for the Russian army to resume his fighting ability. The Bakhmut meat grinder has done its job perfectly».