Live blog: Moscow 'promises' Wagner enough ammo to stay in Bakhmut

Sunday, May 7, 2023

The head of Russia's Wagner mercenary group has said Moscow had promised his fighters enough ammunition to stay in Bakhmut, after threatening to pull out in scathing videos.

Rivalries between Yevgeny Prigozhin and the conventional army came to the surface during the battle for the eastern Ukrainian town, where Wagner is leading the assault.

"Overnight we received a combat order... they promised to give us all the ammunition and arm aments we need to continue the operations" in Bakhmut, Prigozhin said.

His group has been assured "that everything necessary will be provided," he added.

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1215 GMT –– Russian forces evacuating town near occupied nuclear plant: Kiev

Russian forces are evacuating residents from the town that serves the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in southern Ukraine, the Ukrainian military has said.

In its morning update, Ukraine's General staff said Russian forces were evacuating local Russian passport holders to the port city of Berdyansk and the town Prymorsk, both on the coast of the Sea of Azov.

"The first to be evacuated are those who accepted Russian citizenship in the first months of the occupation," it said in a statement.

1146 GMT –– Russia says it destroys 22 Ukrainian drones over Black Sea

Russia's air defences have detected and destroyed 22 Ukrainian drones over the Black Sea overnight, the country's defence ministry said in a daily briefing.

A Russian-backed official said earlier that Ukraine had launched drones at Crimea overnight, without providing details.

Separately, the defence ministry said its forces had gained more ground in the Ukrainian city of Bakhmut, claiming two "blocks" in the northwestern and western parts of the city.

0842 GMT — Russian strikes in Ukraine's Kharkiv, Kherson leave several dead

At least six people have been killed and nine injured by Russian airstrikes in Ukraine's Kharkiv and Kherson regions.

"Kharkiv region, Izium district, town of Balaklia. The Russians launched a missile attack. It is known that 5 people were injured," Andriy Yermak, head of the Ukrainian Presidential Office, said on Telegram.

Separately, Kharkiv Governor Oleh Synyehubov said that all emergency services were at the site of the strike, which he said hit a parking lot in the region.

Synyehubov added that three of the five injured had major injuries, while the other two had minor injuries.

Elsewhere, Kherson Governor Oleksandr Prokudin said on Telegram that six people were killed and four injured by Russian strikes over the past day.

"Over the past day, the enemy carried out 51 shellings, firing 237 shells from heavy artillery, 'Grads,' tanks, UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles) and aviation," Prokudin said.

Saying that Russia shelled the city of Kherson four times, Prokudin said the strikes aimed "at the residential quarters of populated areas of the region."

0651 GMT — Gas pipeline, power lines damaged in Russia's Belgorod

Overnight Ukrainian shelling of the Belgorod region on Russia's border with Ukraine has damaged a gas pipeline and power lines as well as a house in the village of Spodaryushino, the region's governor said.

"Most importantly, there were no casualties," Vyacheslav Gladkov wrote on the Telegram messaging app. Reuters news agency was not able to independently verify the report.

The Belgorod region is one of several in southern Russia where targets such as fuel and ammunition stores have been rocked by explosions since the start of Moscow's offensive in Ukraine on February 24, 2022.

Ukraine almost never publicly claims responsibility for attacks inside Russia and on Russian-controlled territory in Ukraine, but it has said recently that destroying infrastructure is preparation for its planned ground assault.

0319 GMT — Explosions rock Russia-annexed Crimea

Ukraine has launched more than 10 drones overnight on the Crimean Peninsula, including three on the port of Sevastopol, a Russian-supported official said, adding that air defence systems repelled all the attacks on Sevastopol.

"No objects [in Sevastopol] were damaged," Mikhail Razvozhayev, the Moscow-installed governor of Sevastopol, said on the Telegram messaging app.

Baza, a Telegram channel with links to Russia's law enforcement agencies, reported that Ukraine sent a series of drones into the Crimean Peninsula, with Russian air defence shooting down at least one over the port of Sevastopol. According to the channel's preliminary information, there were no casualties.

According to Ukrainian monitoring Telegram channels, explosions took place in Sevastopol and Saki — where Russia has an air base — as well as a few other places on the Crimean Peninsula that Russia annexed in 2014.

2308 GMT — IAEA warns of dangers around Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant

The head of the UN's nuclear power watchdog has warned that the situation around the Russian-held Zaporizhzhia nuclear station had become "increasingly unpredictable and potentially dangerous" and called for measures to ensure its safe operation.

Rafael Grossi, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, issued the warning in view of what he said were evacuations underway in the nearby town of Enerhodar, ordered by the local Russian-installed governor.

"I'm extremely concerned about the very real nuclear safety and security risks facing the plant. We must act now to prevent the threat of a severe nuclear accident and its associated consequences for the population and the environment."

1930 GMT — Air raid alerts issued for most of eastern Ukraine

Ukrainian officials have issued air raid alerts evening for areas covering roughly two-thirds of the country.

The alerts extended from the capital Kiev and regions to the west of it through all regions in the east as well as south to Kherson region and Russian-annexed Crimea.

1805 GMT — Russia says US 'primarily' responsible for attack on pro-Kremlin writer

Russia's Foreign Ministry said the United States was "primarily" to blame for a car blast that killed one person and wounded pro-Kremlin writer Zakhar Prilepin.

"The responsibility for this terrorist act, and for others, does not lie only with Ukraine, but also with its Western minders, primarily the United States," the ministry said, adding that "the silence of the relevant international organisations in unacceptable".

For our live updates from Saturday (May 6), click here.