Russia-Ukraine war: List of key events, day 1,162

On Thursday, May 1, 2018, this is the situation:

Fighting

• Russian drones attacked Odesa, Ukraine’s Black Sea port, early on Thursday, causing fires and harming homes and infrastructure, according to the regional governor.
• The mayor of Kharkiv, the second-largest city in the northeast of Ukraine, claimed a second-class Russian drone struck a downtown petrol station, igniting a fire.
• A drone strike on a Russian defense manufacturing facility was attributed to Ukraine’s SBU security agency. The governor of the region reported that the bombing that occurred at Murom Instrument-Building Plant, located 300 kilometers (186 miles) east of Moscow, sparked a fire and caused damage to two buildings.
• According to the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, Russian air defense units overnight destroyed 34 Ukrainian drones, according to Russian news agencies.
• Despite Moscow declaring a three-day ceasefire from May 8 to May 10, Ukraine’s top military commander, Oleksandr Syrskii, claimed Russian forces have intensified their combat activity in eastern Ukraine.
• Vladimir Putin, the president of Russia, claimed that some small numbers of Ukrainian soldiers were still huddled up in basements and hiding places in the western Kursk region. Over the weekend, Moscow claims to have driven Ukrainian forces out of the border region.
• During Ukraine’s months-long incursion into Kursk, the Kremlin reported that at least 288 civilians had died.
• Out of a total of 15, 000 troops deployed, according to South Korean lawmakers, citing their nation’s intelligence agency, 600 of those fighting Russia’s invasion of Ukraine have been killed.
• Russian lawmakers have asked the Department of State to explain to them how China has engaged Chinese fighters in its conflict in Ukraine, arguing that Moscow has Beijing’s “tacit approval” is required.

Diplomacy

A long-awaited agreement between the US and Ukraine allows Washington to invest in Ukraine’s defense and reconstruction in exchange for access to the country’s minerals.
• Despite recent attacks against the struggling nation, US President Donald Trump said he believes Putin wants to stop Russia’s aggression against Ukraine.
• Trump told the ABC News broadcaster, “If it weren’t for me, I think he’d want to take control of the entire country.” I’ll admit to feeling unsatisfied after witnessing Putin firing missiles into a number of cities and towns.
• Meanwhile, the Kremlin claimed that Putin is open to the possibility of ending the conflict in Ukraine and that working with the US is being difficult because Washington wants to make quick progress.
• Additionally, Dmitry Peskov, a spokesman for the Kremlin, stated that although Kyiv has not yet responded, Putin has indicated that he would like to talk to Ukraine directly.
• Andrii Sybiha, the country’s foreign minister, responded by saying that if Moscow agreed to a ceasefire, Ukraine was ready for peace talks of any kind. Prior to announcing a ceasefire, Puntin has previously welcomed the concept in principle, but he claimed that many problems must be resolved in practice.
• Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the leader of Ukraine, and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney spoke about supporting Ukraine in achieving lasting peace and security.
• Should the Trump administration renounce its efforts to resolve the Ukraine peace talks and seek a resolution with Moscow, EU diplomat Kaja Kallas told the Financial Times. The EU is developing a “plan B.”
• As the continent looks to regress following Trump’s stance on European security and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the EU claims 16 member states are asking for exemptions from the bloc’s public debt rules in order to increase defense spending.