On the 77th day of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Wednesday May 11, the Russian threat is moving away from Kharkiv, the second city of Ukraine located in the east, pounded since the end of February, Ukrainian authorities said overnight. from Tuesday to Wednesday, when the conflict could spread towards the southwest according to Washington.
► Moscow has blocked the RFI website, which broadcasts information in fifteen languages including Russian. An alternative URL address allows access to the site in French and in Russian. RFI in Russian is also available on Telegram: https://t.me/RFI_Ru via a VPN and in Russia in French via satellite on Hotbird.
► The site of the Russian editorial staff of RFI broadcasts Ukrainian public radio (in the Ukrainian language) from the home page.
The main points:
► The Russian threat is moving away from Kharkov, the second city in Ukraine pounded since the end of February, Volodymyr Zelensky announced on Tuesday evening. “ The localities of Cherkasy Tychky, Rusky Tychky, Rubizhne and Bayrak have been liberated ” but “ the intensity of shelling in the Kharkiv district has increased “, specified the Ukrainian staff.
► Vladimir Putin does not intend to limit his desire for occupation to the Donbass region in Ukraine alone, but wants take the conflict to Transnistria, a region of Moldova that seceded in 1990, US intelligence chief Avril Haines said on Tuesday. “ We believe that President Putin is preparing for a protracted conflict in Ukraine, during which he still intends to achieve goals beyond Donbass she said during a congressional hearing.
► The US Congress took a first step on Tuesday towards unblocking a huge new envelope of nearly 40 billion dollars for Ukraine, following Joe Biden in his unwavering support for Kyiv. This package must now be voted on in the Senate.
► In Mariupol, “ more than a thousand » military Ukrainians, including “hundreds of wounded” are still in the steelworks Azovstal besieged by Russian troops, Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk told AFP on Tuesday.
Times are given in Universal Time (UT), click here to refresh
5:50 am: Southwestern Ukraine in Russia’s sights
There ” second phase ” of ” special military operation announced by Moscow aims for a total grip on the Donbass, and the fighting is particularly intense in the Luhansk region. But attention is now also focused on the south-west of the country. Russian President Vladimir Putin wants to expand » the conflict up to Transnistriaa region of Moldova that seceded in 1990, US intelligence chief Avril Haines said on Tuesday.
On April 22, a Russian general, Rustam Minnekayev, had also argued that “ control of southern Ukraine, it is also a corridor to Transnistria, where there are also cases of oppression of the Russian-speaking population “. However, the defense of Russian speakers is one of Moscow’s justifications for the current war.
In addition to the Crimea annexed in 2014, Russian troops occupy much of southern Ukraine, including the regional capital of Kherson. According to the Ukrainian command for the south, Russian troops are striking ” without mercy » the region of Mykolaiv, which represents the ultimate lock before Odessa, to the west. “ Private houses, agricultural facilities were damaged and the electricity supply to one of the localities was interrupted “, he said on the night of Tuesday to Wednesday. Odessa, a major cultural center for both Ukrainians and Russians, has been hit sporadically by Russian missiles since the start of the conflict.
In the vicinity of Odessa, the psychological pressure continues on the neighboring population of Transnistria ” with “ the possible blockage of the region due to the decommissioning of the Dniester bridge, which was again attacked by missiles “, also advanced the Ukrainian command for the south. At the end of April and the beginning of May, explosions shook Transnistria, where Russian troops have been stationed for thirty years. Russia immediately said to itself “ In the Army “by these” terrorist acts “Indicating to follow the situation closely. For its part, the European Union announced on May 4 that it would ” greatly increase » his military aid to Moldova. This small country, not a member of NATO, also received support at the end of April from Paris and Berlin.
5:23 a.m.: “We are in shock”: with a family just evacuated, in the Luhansk region
Fighting is fierce in the Lyman and Severodonetsk regions in the Luhansk region and further south near Mariinka, which borders Donetsk, under Russian control. People in these areas continue to flee when they can. Our special envoys Anastasia Becchio and Boris Vicith went to the workers’ city of Kurakhove, located about twenty kilometers from the front line.
We couldn’t step outside. It was explosion after explosion. Next door our friends were killed, a 50-year-old man and his wife. It is simply horror.
In Kurakhove, with a family just evacuated from their village
04:59: Back in the West, families find their devastated homes
While the fighting is concentrated in eastern Ukraine, in the west the situation has returned to calm. In Irpin, a city-lock at the entrance to kyiv, intense fighting took place and the destruction is immense. The inhabitants who had fled begin to return and find a city in ruins, tell our special envoys Murielle Paradon and Sami Boukhelifa in their report.
You see our neighbours’ house, it is completely destroyed…
4:36 a.m .: Russian threat is moving away from Kharkiv, according to Ukraine
The Russian noose is loosening on Kharkiv, the second city of Ukraine located in the east and which had been shelled since the end of February, the Ukrainian authorities said overnight from Tuesday to Wednesday. ” Our armed forces gave us all good news from the Kharkiv region. The occupiers are gradually pushed back from Kharkiv said President Volodymyr Zelensky in a video late evening Tuesday. ” I am grateful to all of our fighters who hold their ground and show superhuman strength to drive out the invading army. »
“ The localities of Cherkasy Tychky, Rusky Tychky, Rubizhne and Bayrak have been liberated in the region of this big city, said the Ukrainian general staff on Facebook. “ Thus, the enemy was pushed even further from Kharkiv, and the occupiers had even fewer opportunities to hit the regional center. ” But “ the intensity of shelling in the Kharkiv district has increased “, he also noted. Moreover, according to Oleg Snegubov, head of the Kharkiv regional administration speaking on Telegram, “ as they retreat, the Russian occupiers leave behind deadly traps “, mines.
The northern and northeastern districts of Kharkiv, which had around 1.5 million inhabitants before the war, have been hit by Russian rockets for weeks, causing the death of civilians. At the end of February, the Russians wanted to take the city, in vain: the Ukrainian forces resisted and pushed them back a few kilometers away, at the cost of bitter fighting.
The American Institute for the Study of War (ISW) noted at the end of last week that, in this eastern part of the country, the Ukrainian army ” making significant progress and will likely advance to the Russian border in the coming days or weeks “. It also seems to confirm the trend that emerged on the eastern front during this third month of the Russian invasion: on the one hand, Ukrainian units are counterattacking and advancing east of Kharkiv, on the other, the Russians are gradually nibbling away at ground about 150 km southeast of the Ukrainian advance, towards the part of Donbass not yet under Russian or pro-Russian separatist control.
4:20 a.m .: The US Congress takes a step towards the release of an envelope of nearly 40 billion dollars for Ukraine
The American president had been asking for several weeks for a huge budget extension of 33 billion dollars to support Ukraine against the Russian invasion. But, Monday evening, Democratic and Republican leaders agreed to go even further, finding a compromise around a staggering envelope of 40 billion dollars, the equivalent of Cameroon’s GDP in 2020.
” With this aid program, America sends a signal to the world of our unwavering determination to support the brave people of Ukraine until victory Against Moscow, said Nancy Pelosi, Democratic Speaker of the House of Representatives, a few hours before this text was adopted by elected officials from both camps.
A rarity in a Congress so accustomed to political wrangling: these measures enjoy very broad cross-partisan support. This package must now be voted on in the Senate, at the end of the week or at the beginning of next week, before being promulgated by Joe Biden.
Within this large envelope: 6 billion dollars which should enable Ukraine to equip itself with armored vehicles, strengthen its anti-aircraft defense at a time when fighting is still raging in the east and south of country. Nearly 9 billion dollars are also planned to ensure, among other things, “ the continuity of Ukrainian democratic institutions », as well as a broad humanitarian component.
04h00: Hello and welcome to this live
You can find our live from yesterday here.