Fire in Odessa region
On the night of May 8th, Russian forces launched another massive attack on the strategic military facilities throughout Ukraine. The night strikes were largely assessed as an unprecedented attack on Ukraine, including by some Ukrainian officials.
The Kiev regime is carefully hiding its losses and damage cause by the constant Russian strikes; but the open sources allow to assess the scale of Russian success. So far, it was confirmed that explosions thundered in Chernihiv, Sumy, Kherson, Zhytomyr, Odessa, Zaporozhye, Dnepropetrovsk and Mykolaiv regions as well as in the capital and in the Kiev region. In the part of the DPR which is under control of the Ukrainian military, Russian forces struck on the reserves of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and headquarters in the Slavyansk-Kramatorsk agglomeration, Chasov Yar and Ugledar. According to some reports, satellites recorded more than 60 large fires throughout Ukraine.
On the morning of May 8, the mayor of Kiev declared that the city was subjected to the most massive attack since the beginning of the Russian military operations in Ukraine.
Several waves of attacks have been observed in Kiev. The alarm was heard for several hours. The mayor announced that Russian missiles struck the Svyatoshinsky and Solomensky districts of the city. The local authorities also said that a tank with diesel fuel was damaged in the Solomenskiy district. Residents of Kiev reported a lot of loud explosions that were heard in various districts of the capital.
The Ukrainian air defence forces once again confirmed their incompetence. Ukrainian forces were fully equipped and trained by the NATO military but they have yet to learn how to protect the population, and not pose more threat to civilians.
Ukrainian air defence forces intercepted Russian drone over the residential area in Kiev. As a result, another apartment building was damaged.
Click to see full-size image
Click to see full-size image
The wreckage also fell on civilian cars.
The engine from the downed kamikaze drone “Geran-2” on one of the streets of Kiev
Ukrainian air defense systems were reportedly more active in the Kiev region, while the work of anti-aircraft installations and MANPADS was recorded exclusively in the city.
Ukrainian military facilities in the southern regions of the country were one of the main targets of the Russian attack. Heavy damage to the AFU military infrastructure was confirmed in the Odessa region. At least 7 strikes were reportedly recorded in the area.
Russian forces hit the area of the Shkolny airfield, from where the AFU continues launching drones towards Crimea. Another target was the bridge in the town Zatoka, which is used by the units of the operational command “South” of the AFU for transfer ammunition and equipment from Europe. According to the local reports, the road bridge across the Dniester river loacted near the village of Mayaki was also damaged. If both of these bridges are destroyed or at least seriously damaged as a result of the strikes, the transfer of Ukrainian reserves and reinforcements to the front lines will slow down.
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Another target in the Odessa region was the village of Dachnoe where Ukrainian radar and air defense systems were deployed.
The local sources also shared the footage of a large fire which broke out after Russian X-22 reportedly hit a Ukrainian warehouse on the coast in the Odessa region:
Most of Russian strikes targeted Ukrainian reserves in the rear areas close to the Donbass front lines.
In the north, the Ukrainian military deployed in the Sumy, Chernihiv and Zhitomir regions is struck by Russian aircraft and artillery on a daily basis. The targets there are the Ukrainian military reserves, the concentration areas and landfills, where the Armed Forces of Ukraine are conducting the final training of the units prepared for the upcoming counteroffensive.
On May 8, head of the press center of the Russian Zapad (West) grouping of troops reported that a Russian Su-34 bomber struck with guided bombs at the deployment point of foreign mercenaries near the village of Ivanovka in the Kharkiv region.
The last night was also a nightmare for the Ukrainian grouping in the Slavyansk-Kramatorsk agglomeration. Russian warplanes struck the Ukrainian positions with heavy FAB air-dropped bombs with a high-explosive warheads. At the same time, Russian artillery heavily shelled the positions of the Ukrainian 112th, 127th and 241st territorial defense brigades, the 228th battalion of the territorial defence, as well as the positions of the AFU units north of Chasov Yar in the area of Bogdanovka and the railway station Valyanovka.
To the south, Russian strikes were reported in the city of Pavlograd. According to preliminary data, multiple explosions were recorded after both ammunition depots and areas of deployment of the Ukrainian military personnel were hit. The railway station used by the AFU for transfer of military equipment and personnel was reportedly hit. Earlier, the 46th Airmobile Brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and some territorial defense brigades were withdrawn to Pavlograd because of heavy losses they suffered on the front lines. During the previous attack on April 30, the Pavlograd Chemical Plant, where rocket fuel and weapons were stored, as well as Ukrainian warehouse located nearby were destroyed.
More strikes also reportedly hit Ukrainian forces in the area of Ugledar.
These are only some of the successful Russian strikes which were confirmed. They make it possible to conclude that the Russian military is set to damage Ukrainian military reserves sent to the front lines in order to prevent the AFU from accumulating forces and launching any large-scale offensive operations. While, the Ukrainian military almost completely depends on the military supplies from the West, it is impossible for Kiev to quickly restore the destroyed stocks of weapons, equipment and manpower.
The ongoing mass strikes throughout Ukraine have not stopped since the beginning of May. The damage caused to the Armed Forces of Ukraine may force Kiev and its patrons from NATO to change their plans and postpone the announced counteroffensive, or even abandon it and continue defensive operations. On May 7, in his video message, Zelensky announced some “new developments” on the front line in May-June, which is obviously another declaration of the upcoming counteroffensive, which, according to Kiev should begin back in April.
