May, 9^th, 2022

1. Launching this operation in Ukraine was “the only right decision,” Russian President said at the annual Victory Day parade in Moscow, May 9^th.

He said that “… it is our duty to preserve the memory of those who defeated Nazism and entrusted us with being vigilant and doing everything to thwart the horror of another global war. Therefore, despite all controversies in international relations, Russia has always advocated the establishment of an equal and indivisible security system which is critically needed for the entire international community. Last December we proposed signing a treaty on security guarantees. Russia urged the West to hold an honest dialogue in search for meaningful and compromising solutions, and to take account of each other’s interests. All in vain. NATO countries did not want to heed us, which means they had totally different plans. And we saw it.”

Russia’s military operation in Ukraine was a preemptive move against future aggression, President Vladimir Putin has outlined during his address.

The head of state not only praised the achievement of the Soviet people during World War II, but also addressed the Kremlin's reasons for the ongoing conflict between Moscow and Kiev. Russia had to act because a large-scale offensive against the republics in the eastern Donbass region was being planned, he claimed.

Returning to the military operation in Ukraine, the president illustrated that “the self-defense forces of the Donbass Republics together with the Russian military are fighting on their land… for the Motherland, for its future, to make sure that no one forgets the lessons of World War II, so that there would be no place in the world for butchers, punishers, and Nazis.”

Announcing the “special military operation” on February 24, Putin said that Moscow should not repeat the mistakes of the Soviet leadership of 1940-1941. Back then, he explained, the USSR tried not to provoke Nazi Germany by “refraining or postponing the most urgent and obvious preparations it had to make to defend itself from an imminent attack.” As a result, the president continued, the moment was lost and the country was not prepared to counter the invasion.

“The attempt to appease the aggressor ahead of the Great Patriotic War proved to be a mistake which came at a high cost for our people…We will not make this mistake the second time. We have no right to do so,” Putin said.

In his words, another punitive operation in Donbass, an invasion of Russian historic lands, including Crimea, was openly in the making. Kiev declared that it could attain nuclear weapons. The NATO bloc launched an active military build-up on the territories adjacent to Russian land. “Thus, he continued, an absolutely unacceptable threat to Russia was steadily being created right on its borders. There was every indication that a clash with neo-Nazis and Banderites backed by the United States and their minions was unavoidable.

He repeated that Russia saw the military infrastructure being built up, hundreds of foreign advisors starting work, and regular supplies of cutting-edge weaponry being delivered from NATO countries. The threat grew every day.

Russia launched a pre-emptive strike at the aggression of Ukraine. It was a forced, timely and the only correct decision. A decision by a sovereign, strong and independent country.

The United States began claiming their exceptionalism, particularly after the collapse of the Soviet Union, thus denigrating not just the entire world but also their satellites, who have to pretend not to see anything, and to obediently put up with it. Putin emphasized that Russia is a different country, it has a different character, it will never give up its love for its Motherland, its faith and traditional values, its ancestors’ customs and respect for all peoples and cultures.

Meanwhile, the West seems to be set to cancel these millennia-old values. Such moral degradation underlies the cynical falsifications of World War II history, escalating Russophobia, praising traitors, mocking their victims’ memory and crossing out the courage of those who won the Victory through suffering. “We saw the military infrastructure unfolding [in Ukraine]; hundreds of foreign advisers starting their work; there were regular deliveries of the most modern weapons from NATO countries. The danger grew every day,” the president explained. “Russia gave a preemptive rebuff to aggression – this was a forced, timely and the only right decision by a sovereign, strong and independent country,” he added, referring to the launch of the military operation.

He ended his address with the words: “Those who crushed Nazism during the Great Patriotic War showed us an example of heroism for all ages. This is the generation of victors, and we will always look up to them”.

[full text is at: http://en.kremlin.ru/events/president/news/68366}

2. Humanitarian situation in Ukraine

From the Statement of the Joint Coordination Headquarters for Humanitarian Response in Ukraine (May 8, 2022 at 21:00)

The Joint Coordination Headquarters of the Russian Federation for Humanitarian Response, in co-operation with the authorised federal executive authorities and law enforcement agencies, continues to thoroughly document numerous facts of the Kiev regime's inhumane attitude towards its own people and the use of civilian infrastructure for military purposes:

a)  in Kramatorsk, Donetsk People's Republic, AFU units are stationed and firing positions are equipped in school No 20 and kindergarten No 87. At the same time, civilians from nearby houses are forcibly detained in the basements and all approaches to the buildings are mined;

b) in Kharkov, militants of nationalist battalions have equipped a stronghold and ammunition depot in the building of the children's regional infectious diseases hospital No 22, with artillery mounts placed in the adjacent territory. The hospital staff and all civilians, including critically ill children, were forced to leave the medical facility under threat of physical violence;

c) in Slavyansk, Donetsk People's Republic, neo-Nazi Ukrainian armed formations have mined a railway bridge of Slavyansk-Kramatorsk branch and a road bridge across Sukhoy Torets river, which they plan to blow up, accusing allegedly "advancing units of Russian troops" of doing this;

d) in Zaporozhye, the administration, hiding the true purpose of using citizens as "human shield", banned the evacuation of civilians under the pretext of "security". Any attempts by residents to leave the city in private cars and on foot are harshly suppressed by militants of the territorial defence battalions at checkpoints. Civilians who show the slightest resistance are physically abused, vehicles are seized and people are sent back on foot.

The number of daily violations by the Kiev regime of the norms and principles of international humanitarian law and the Geneva Conventions in terms of the prohibition of placing heavy weapons in residential areas, using civilians as human shield and civilian infrastructure for military purposes, indicates the absolutely conscious use of inhumane battle tactics by Ukrainian neo-Nazis.

Moscow recalled that because of the same radical approaches of Nazi Germany towards civilians, the leadership of the world community developed and documented most of the norms and principles of international humanitarian law after the end of World War II, which are still in force today.

Russia urged the countries of the so-called collective West, which unconditionally support the Kiev regime, to stop "turning a blind eye" to these flagrant facts and condemn the war crimes of the Kiev authorities against their own people.

In addition, the Odessa regional administration has banned satellite TV providers broadcasting Russian and Moldovan TV channels in order to restrict the information space and deny people access to an alternative view of the situation around the special military operation. Residents of flats and private households are forced to dismantle existing satellite equipment, and anyone who fails to do so is accused of being pro-Russian without evidence, and their computers, tablets and smartphones are confiscated. Citizens are taken to an unknown destination, and their fate is not known to their relatives.

Such criminal actions by the Kiev authorities are aimed at concealing from the citizens of Ukraine the current catastrophic situation in the country, caused by the destructive policy of official Kiev, and show a complete indifference to the fate of millions of Ukrainians.

3. Humanitarian aid delivery

Federal executive authorities, together with the subjects of the Russian Federation, various public organizations, patriotic movements, continue to accumulate humanitarian aid.

More than 23,000 tonnes of basic necessities and food kits, including baby food and life-saving medicines, have been prepared at collection points.

In the liberated territories, the Russian Armed Forces and military units of the Donetsk and Lugansk people's republics are creating all the necessary conditions for a peaceful and safe life, providing the population with comprehensive assistance, including unimpeded access to any humanitarian aid.

Since March 2^nd, 18,530.6 tons of humanitarian cargo have already been delivered to Ukraine, 962 humanitarian actions have been carried out, including 2 actions in Kharkov and Kherson regions, as well as in Donetsk People's Republic, during which 983 tons of basic necessities, medicines and food were transferred to the civilian population of the liberated areas.

On May 8th, 5 humanitarian actions have been planned and are currently being carried out in Kherson region, in Donetsk and Lugansk people's republics, during which 233 tons of basic necessities, medicine and food will be distributed.

4. Resolution of the refugees’ issue

Despite all the difficulties and obstacles posed by Kiev, over the past 24 hours, without the involvement of the Ukrainian authorities, 19,834 people, including 970 children, have been evacuated from dangerous areas of the Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics and Ukraine to the Russian Federation. Since the beginning of the special military operation, a total of 1,185,971 people have been evacuated, including 206,610 children. The state border of the Russian Federation was crossed by 152,989 personal vehicles including 2,018 per day.

More than 9,500 temporary accommodation centres continue to operate in the constituent entities of the Russian Federation and are fully equipped with recreational facilities and hot meals. The refugees are dealt with on an individual basis and are promptly assisted with various pressing issues relating to onward accommodation, employment assistance, places for children in kindergartens and educational institutions, and the provision of entitlements to social benefits.

Over the past day, Russian authorities received 149 appeals from Ukrainian citizens with requests to evacuate to Russia, the Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics and to areas controlled by the Russian armed forces in Zaporozhye, Nikolaev, Kharkov and Kherson regions, a total of 2,755,112 such appeals in the database from 2,135 settlements.

Ukraine’s Deputy Prime Minister Irina Vereschuk announced on April 7^th  that all of the women, children and elderly civilians trapped in the Azovstal complex in Mariupol have been evacuated. Russian forces had paused their assault on the plant to allow the escape of civilians, some of whom say they were held hostage there by militants.

Russia accused the Ukrainian soldiers and neo-Nazi militias occupying the plant of holding civilians there to barter for supplies. In video footage posted and later deleted by German magazine Der Spiegel, an evacuee said that her family had been kept “in a bunker” under Azovstal for two months, and were forbidden by the Azov militants from using the Russian-established humanitarian corridors.

5. Situation at the Black Sea area

75 foreign vessels from 17 countries remain blocked in 7 Ukrainian ports (Kherson, Nikolaev, Chernomorsk, Ochakov, Odessa, Yuzhniy and Mariupol). The threat of shelling and high mine danger created by official Kiev in its internal waters and territorial sea prevents vessels from safely leaving the ports and reaching the open sea.

In confirmation of this, the Russian Federation is opening daily from 08:00 to 19:00 (Moscow time) a humanitarian corridor, which is a safe lane south-west of Ukraine's territorial sea, 80 nautical miles long and 3 nautical miles wide.

Detailed information in English and Russian on the modus operandi of the maritime humanitarian corridor is broadcast daily every 15 minutes on VHF radio on 14 and 16 international channels in English and Russian.

At the same time, the Kiev authorities continue to avoid engaging with representatives of states and ship-owning companies to resolve the issue of ensuring the safe passage of foreign vessels to the assembly area.

The danger to navigation from Ukrainian mines drifting off their anchors along the coasts of Black Sea states remains.

The Russian Federation is taking a full range of comprehensive measures to ensure the safety of civilian navigation in the waters of the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov.

6. Situation on the battlefield

Ukraine’s forces entrenched at the Azovstal steel plant have no plans to surrender, fighters from the neo-Nazi Azov regiment told journalists on April 8^th.

Azovstal, a gargantuan Soviet-built factory complex spread over 11 square kilometers, remains the last pocket of resistance in Mariupol. The Russian military repeatedly offered those entrenched at the plant a chance to surrender, which has so far been rejected.

Russian Aerospace Forces have destroyed two command posts and a Ukrainian battery of Grad multiple rocket launchers near Popasnaya, 18 manpower and military equipment concentration areas near Lisichansk, a counterbattery radio detection station manufactured in the USA near Zolotoye. Oniks high-precision missiles launched by Bastion coastal missile system near Artsiz, Odessa region, have destroyed Ukrainian helicopters at a bounce platform.

Operational-tactical and army aviation have neutralised 52 manpower and military equipment concentration areas, as well as an ammunition depot near Glukhov.

Missile troops and artillery units have neutralised eight command posts, 26 artillery units at their firing positions, as well as 211 manpower and military equipment concentration areas. The attacks have resulted in the elimination of up to 350 nationalists and the neutralisation of 56 units of military equipment. In addition, four Ukrainian Smerch multiple rocket launchers and one launching ramp of S-300 air defence system near Bogodukhov.

Russian air defence means have shot down three aircraft of the Ukrainian Air Force: two MiG-29 near Iverskoye and Novodonetskoye, Donetsk People's Republic, and one Su-25 near Pogonovka, Kharkov region overnight. Three Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles, including two Bayraktar-TB2, have been hit over Zmeimyi Island.

In addition, 12 Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles have been shot down over Balakleya, Shiykovka, Goptovka, Tsupovka, Maliye and Bolshiye Prokhody (Kharkov region), Kamenka (Cherkassy region), Brianka and Adveyevka (Donetsk People's Republic), Pavlovka (Lugansk People's Republic). Three projectiles of Smerch multiple rocket launcher have been intercepted near Izyum and Snezhkovka.

Written by Vladimir P. Kozin