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Ukraine war latest: Ukraine makes localized advances near Bakhmut
Key developments on May 12:
Ukraine's Defense Ministry: Ukraine advances 2 kilometers toward Bakhmut
Military: Signs of exhaustion evident among Russian forces on battlefield
24th Separate Assault Battalion says it recaptured Russian positions southwest of Bakhmut
Wagner chief attacks Russian Defense Ministry, calls on Shoigu to visit Bakhmut
Ukrainian forces advanced two kilometers toward Bakhmut "without losing a single position" this week, Ukraine's Defense Ministry said on May 12.
Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar also claimed that Russian forces had suffered heavy losses as they defended their positions in Bakhmut, which she believes still holds a significant value for them.
Eastern Operational Command spokesman Serhiy Cherevaty also reported a successful operation in the Bakhmut area in recent days, saying on television that Ukraine has conducted counterattacks and there are signs of exhaustion among the Russian forces on the battlefield.
"The first marker of this exhaustion is the almost daily hysterical statements of criminal Prigozhin," Cherevaty said. "Bakhmut remains the epicenter of hostilities."
Cherevaty said the counterattacks pushed back Russian forces between 250 meters to 1.5 kilometers, naming a smaller estimate than the Defense Ministry.
The 24th Separate Assault Battalion "Aidar" said on May 12, together with other units, it liberated some territories south of Ivanivske, a village near Bakhmut.
The Russian Defense Ministry confirms a series of Ukrainian counterattacks near Bakhmut.
Ukrainian forces launched counterattacks in the Soledar direction "along the entire line of contact between the parties with a length of more than 95 kilometers," Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said in a daily briefing on May 12.
Konashenkov, as always said, Russia repelled all attacks.
Wagner Group Chief Yevgeny Prigozhin accused the Russian Defense Ministry of calling a retreat of Russian soldiers in Bakhmut a "regrouping" to seize more advantageous positions, admitting that Ukrainian forces have launched "a number of successful counterattacks."
The Wagner chief offered Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu to visit the Russian-controlled part of Bakhmut to assess the battlefield situation, referring to the official's "many years of warfare experience," although he has no real background in military command.
Ukrainian military intelligence said on May 12 that Prigozhin's public conflict with Shoigu and Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov "testify to their fear of responsibility for the inevitable defeat of Moscow."
"None of this trio wants to take responsibility," military intelligence spokesperson Andriy Yusov said in a Telegram post.
Bakhmut counteroffensive
Ukraine appears to be making localized attacks near Bakhmut, breaking the Russian defense lines south of the city.
In a video published by Ukraine's 3rd Separate Assault Brigade deployed near Bakhmut, one of the Ukrainian soldiers yells, "forward!" as they attack a Russian position and dugout with a grenade.
The Institute for the Study of War (ISW), a D.C.-based think-tank analyzing the war in Ukraine, confirmed in its May 11 report that Ukraine has made localized advances in the Bakhmut area, where heavy fighting has raged since last summer.
"Ukrainian forces likely broke through some Russian lines in localized counteroffensives near Bakhmut, prompting responses from Wagner Group financier Yevgeny Prigozhin and the Russian Ministry of Defense," the ISW said.
The think-tank added that Russia's deployment of "low-quality" personnel on the flanks around Bakhmut suggests that the Russian Defense Ministry has "largely abandoned the aim of encircling a significant number of Ukrainian forces there."
Prigozhin accused the Russian military of fleeing Bakhmut and warned of a "global tragedy" for Russia
The press service of Wagner’s Yevgeny Prigozhin published his answer to a question regarding the retreat of the troops of the Russian Defense Ministry on the flanks of the front in the Bakhmut area.
According to him, the Russian army did not make a "tactical retreat" on the flanks, as the speaker of the Ministry of Defense Konashenkov said, but ran. Prigozhin notes that the announced by the Ministry of Defense "occupation [by the Russian military] of the line, taking into account the favorable conditions of the Berkhovskoye reservoir" means that "the enemy will approach Bakhmut" at a distance of 500 meters, "occupying all tactical heights."
The head of the Wagner PMC said that his mercenaries surrounded Bakhmut for seven months, and then handed over the flanks to the regular military, who could not hold them. Prigozhin suggests that as a result, the city, almost captured by Russia, may now be surrounded by the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
He also traditionally once again complained that the Wagner PMCs did not have enough shells and equipment, which is why the mercenaries "practically cannot cover the military with fire." In addition, Prigozhin mentioned that the capture of Bakhmut himself would not give Russia anything if he was surrounded, and suggested "stop lying" because this could lead to "a global tragedy for Russia."
Earlier, Prigozhin's press service published his letter in which he invited Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu to Bakhmut, noting his "many years of experience in combat operations." At the same time, Shoigu has no military education, he never served in the army and did not participate in hostilities.
Financial Times: EU plans to build internet cable to reduce Georgia's reliance on Russia
The European Union is planning to build an internet cable in the Black Sea's international waters to improve Georgia's digital connectivity and reduce its reliance on Russia, the Financial Times reported on May 12.
Russia's ongoing all-out war against Ukraine has heightened the urgency for countries like Georgia to improve data security.
However, the timeline for the project remains unclear, "particularly as Russia continues to use its warships in the Black Sea to fire missiles at Ukraine and has blockaded ports last year," FT wrote.
Russia is a "key transit route" for data in parts of the Caucasus, as well as in Asia and Europe.
Some "significant internet arteries" run through Russia, including the Dream cable, which also runs through Germany, Austria, Slovakia, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, and China. It is also majority-owned by a Russian operator, according to FT.
https://www.ft.com/content/d07dbd19-5e8b-4543-85f6-bbf1a6a0858d
https://kyivindependent.com/financial-times-eu-cable-geogia/
Putin demanded to stop the exodus of Russians abroad
Russian President Vladimir Putin demanded that measures be taken in response to the massive emigration of citizens that swept the country after the start of the war and the announcement of mobilization.
On Friday, May 12, Putin signed a decree on changes to the Concept of the State Migration Policy of the Russian Federation. The document, which is published on the portal of legal information, notes that the migration outflow of the population abroad "increased" in 2022 "under the influence of changed socio-economic conditions."
“In this regard, additional measures are required to create attractive financial, social, and other mechanisms for preserving human capital, reducing the outflow of the population of the Russian Federation abroad,” the decree says.
According to demographer Alexei Raksha, last year from 550,000 to 800,000 citizens could have left Russia, while Alfa-Bank analysts estimated the wave of emigration at a million people. This made it the largest since at least the collapse of the USSR, and possibly even since the fall of the tsarist regime - then, according to international organizations, 1.16 million Russians fled from the red terror of the Bolsheviks.
The Russian Ministry of Economic Development estimated a reduction in the workforce - citizens aged 18 to 65 - by 600,000 people in September last year. Russia has lost more than 23% of top programmers, public and private clinics have recorded the departure of the most highly qualified doctors, and a Gaidar Institute survey of top managers and owners of industrial enterprises showed a shortage of personnel on a scale that statistics have not seen in the entire modern history of the country.
A source in the Russian government familiar with the meetings that took place in the fall and winter told The Moscow Times that the wave of emigration "personally offended" Putin. Those whom he instructed to mobilize left the country without hesitation, and the authorities, watching what was happening in real-time, had no legal opportunity to put up a barrier.
“The escape angered the chief (as among Russian officials, according to Soviet tradition, it is customary to call Putin among themselves - ed.). An order was given to stop this in the future and begin to educate people in patriotism, ”the official said.
The immediate response was a law on electronic subpoenas, which was prepared in secrecy, and then was "express" passed by both houses of parliament and signed by the president.
The law de facto creates in the Russian Federation a register of citizens restricted to travel abroad, and also introduces significant impairments in the rights of "evaders", up to a ban on disposing of property and driving a car.
Deputy head of the Security Council Dmitry Medvedev stated that the status of "public enemies" should be extended to all citizens who left the country, even if criminal or administrative cases were not initiated against them. He also called for their entry to be closed without prior repentance or amnesty.
Senator Sergey Tsekov proposed to take away property from the Russians who left the country. According to him, this should apply to everyone, "regardless of whether they are stars or IT people."
In mid-January, the speaker of the State Duma, Vyacheslav Volodin, demanded that the possibility of confiscation of property of those who left for “insulting Russia, its inhabitants, soldiers, and officers” be prescribed in the Criminal Code. The vice-speaker of the lower house of parliament, Anna Kuznetsova, said that their property could be transferred to orphans.
Dozens of Russians lose 'golden passports'
The sale of EU passports to rich Russians has brought in billions for Cyprus and Malta. Because of the war in Ukraine, the two island states have now confiscated some "golden passports."
Cyprus and Malta have responded to Russia's incursion into Ukraine by stripping dozens of people of their "golden passports". The EU Commission answered a question from the FDP MEP Moritz Körner.
According to the report, Cyprus has revoked the citizenship of nine Russian investors and 34 family members - because they were affected by the sanctions imposed by the EU over Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine. Malta collected the passports of two people.
In the island states, there was a long-standing practice of naturalizing investors in exchange for large monetary payments. Holders of these so-called golden passports were then able to settle and do business in all EU countries. Cyprus required investments of at least 2.5 million euros for a passport. According to the Cypriot government, around 9.7 billion euros were raised between 2007 and 2020.
After the Russian attack on Ukraine began, the commission again ruled the controversial practice illegal and recommended EU states to consider revoking such citizenships - especially if the individuals are on the EU's sanctions lists or support Russia's war of aggression. The Brussels authorities are taking legal action against Malta, and Cyprus has given up its practice.
FDP politician Körner welcomes the step taken by the two countries: Those who profit from the policies of Russian President Vladimir Putin "must feel the consequences," he says. »Russians and Belarusians who end up on the EU sanctions list do not deserve EU citizenship.«
However, the halt to the sale of »golden passports« by EU states has already led to Russians finding new ways into the EU. According to the findings of the EU Commission, island states such as Vanuatu or Balkan countries such as Montenegro have been awarded hundreds of citizenships for large sums of money. These passports allow entry into the EU without a visa.
Ukraine for the first time used a missile with a range of more than 120 km. An oil storage facility and a plant in Luhansk were hit
Two explosions thundered in Russian-occupied Luhansk. The Armed Forces of Ukraine hit the Polypak enterprise for the production of polymer products and chemicals, a fire broke out, wrote the ex-ambassador of the self-proclaimed “LPR” in Moscow, Rodion Miroshnik.
"Polypak" is located on the territory of the former machine-building plant "100". According to the Ukrainian side, it is used as a supply point for the Russian military. Acting head of the LPR Leonid Pasechnik said that the Leninsky district of Luhansk was shelled. The second rocket hit the oil storage.
According to retired Lieutenant Colonel of the “People's Militia of the LPR” Andrey Marochko, the Armed Forces of Ukraine used missiles with a range of 150 km. Z-channel "Russian military correspondents" claims that the strike was carried out by two cruise missiles launched from Kramatorsk. They suggested that the APU used the British Storm Shadow, which can hit 290 kilometers. Komsomolskaya Pravda war correspondent Oleksandr Kots wrote that Luhansk no longer appears to be a safe rear city.
Propaganda bloggers also reported that fragments of an American ADM-160B decoy missile, designed to detect and overload air defense systems, were found at the impact site. Its flight range is 450 kilometers. It is released in front of the missile, which should hit the target.
On May 12, Republic Day is celebrated in the “LPR.” According to RIA Novosti, the Secretary of the United Russia General Council, Senator Andrey Turchak, was in the city at the time of arrival. He didn't get hurt. Also on this day in Luhansk, the son-in-law of Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, blogger Aleksey Stolyarov, filmed videos. He said that he managed to leave before the explosions and "everything is all right" with him.
Luhansk is located more than 100 kilometers from the front line. It is out of range for fire from HIMARS rocket launchers (up to 84 km) and JDAM planning bombs (up to 80 km). Of those missiles that are officially in service with Ukraine, only Tochka U can overcome such a distance, but they are relatively easy to shoot down.
After Russia announced the shooting down of a Ukrainian missile over Feodosia, there were suggestions that the Armed Forces of Ukraine began to use the Grom-2 tactical complex, which can cover a distance of up to 500 kilometers. At the same time, there is no official confirmation that he entered service with the Ukrainian forces.
On the eve it became known that the UK supplied Ukraine with long-range air-launched cruise missiles Storm Shadow with a range of up to 290 km. Following reports of explosions in Luhansk, a number of Ukrainian Telegram channels started writing “God save the King,” hinting that a British missile had been used in the attack. Officially, the Armed Forces of Ukraine did not confirm any of these versions.
Russia-installed occupation ‘administration’ member injured in Melitopol explosions
An explosion has gone off in Russia-occupied Melitopol, southern Ukraine, and the acting “deputy minister” of construction and public utilities has been injured, the Russian Investigative Committee reports.
The name of the official is not disclosed. According to the committee, the improvised explosive device was planted in a rubbish bin near an apartment block and went off when the man exited the building.
The “deputy minister” sustained blast injuries and was rushed to hospital.
Melitopol Mayor Ivan Fedorov noted on Friday that a loud explosion went off in the center of the city. “We are investigating where exactly the occupants had the misfortune to be smoking,” he wrote.
The Investigative Committee has opened a criminal case into the attempted murder. The investigation is underway, and eyewitnesses are being questioned now.
In early May, an assassination attempt was made on the “deputy interior minister” of the Russia-occupied part of Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia region in Melitopol.
Unidentified people planted explosives in front of the official’s house gates. The device exploded as he opened the door. The man was taken to hospital with blast injuries.
On 22 April, an explosion destroyed a train carrying fuel in Melitopol, Fedorov said. The mayor also said that a helicopter and a missile system were blown up in the city in the past few days.
Zelenskyy introduced sanctions against the co-owners of Zaporizhstal Akhmetov. Putin and Trump are connected with them
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy put into effect the NSDC's decision to impose sanctions on persons associated with the Zaporizhstal metallurgical plant.
The president announced this on his Telegram channel.
"Today is sanctions day. There are several sanctions packages, I signed the corresponding decrees. The first sanctions package is against Zaporizhstal. With his decree, he imposed restrictive measures on 41 persons - 13 individuals and 28 legal entities - with the help of which the Russian Federation maintained control over the enterprise. harmed our economy. We are launching the procedure to confiscate the Russian share - it will work for Ukraine and Ukrainians," Zelenskyy wrote.
According to the annexes to Presidential Decree No. 275/2023 of May 12, which implemented the NSDC decision on sanctions, 13 Armenian citizens were added to the sanctions lists. The maximum list of sanctions for a period of 50 years is applied to them.
In addition, 50-year sanctions were imposed on 28 legal entities. Among them are the Russian state corporation "VEB.RF," registered in Great Britain Global Steel Investments Limited, registered in the Bahamas Etrade Ltd., as well as a number of companies registered in Cyprus and other jurisdictions.
According to data in the information disclosure system of the Agency for the Development of the Stock Market Infrastructure, as of the end of last year, 47% of the shares of Zaporizhstal belong to the holding company Metinvest BV registered in the Netherlands of Rinat Akhmetov and Vadym Novinsky, which exercises operational control over the enterprise ( Metinvest reported, that the group indirectly owns another 3% of the shares of "Zaporizhstal.”
Another 12.35% of the shares are directly owned by Global Steel Investments Limited, registered in Great Britain, and 24.5% of the shares belong to the same company indirectly through the Kyiv Securities Group FDI.
In addition, 11.22% belongs to the Bahamian Etrade Ltd. through "Midland Capital Management" LLC, which has ties to Global Steel Investments through "Kyiv Securities Group" FDI.
It will be recalled that in May 2010 Midland Resources Holding Limited (Guernsey, Great Britain) of Eduard Shifrin and Alexander Schneider sold up to 50% of the shares of "Zaporizhstal" to a group of Russian investors, whose interests were represented by "Vnesheconombank" (now VEB.RF) and IC "Troika Dialog" ". Then, in July 2012, "Metinvest" announced the consolidation together with a group of investors of 50.0032% of the shares of "Zaporizhstal".
In 2010, the Financial Times wrote in detail about the scheme of selling almost 50% of the shares of "Zaporizhstal,” which established that the company of Shifrin and Schneider received $850 million from the Russians for its share package. Schneider spent part of these funds on the completion of the Trump International Hotel and Tower Toronto, a skyscraper shared with Donald Trump.
Another $100 million was to be transferred through shell companies in Cyprus and elsewhere to those who organized the deal. According to Shifrin's court testimony, he was the former head of the State Administration of Ukrainian Affairs, Ihor Bakai, who lived in Moscow at the time.
The FT then concluded that VEB.RF then paid the entire purchase price of Zaporizhstal shares and as a result, gained control over Midland's stake in the steel company.
The chairman of the supervisory board of VEBU was the then Prime Minister of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin, and before the annexation of Crimea and the start of the war in 2014, Russia was actively increasing its economic presence in eastern Ukraine, gaining control over industrial assets directly or through friendly oligarchs.
https://biz.censor.net/n3418022
'Panicking For Real': In Anticipation Of A Counteroffensive, Russia Moves Thousands Of People From Their Homes In Southern Ukraine
"In the beginning, numerous children were taken away, and the parents who sent their kids to schools and kindergartens were receiving threats," a resident of Polohy, a Russian-occupied city in Ukraine's southern Zaporizhzhya region, told RFE/RL on condition of anonymity.
As Ukraine gears up for a long-anticipated counteroffensive, officials displaced from the Zaporizhzhya and Kherson regions say Russia is forcibly removing civilians from occupied towns and settlements close to the front line in the south. Reports of what Russia calls evacuations are piling up.
The evacuation of 18 settlements in the occupied part of the Zaporizhzhya region was announced by the Russian-installed administrator, Yevhen Balytskiy, on May 5. In a video message, he said the decision is a "necessary security measure" due to the intensification of shelling and assured that "there is no panic."
Two days later, Balytskiy said that more than 1,600 people, including 660 children, had been moved to Berdyansk, a Russian-occupied port city farther south, on the Sea of Azov. He also promised a payment of 10,000 Russian rubles ($130) to those leaving.
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Russian Defense Ministry: Mi-28 military helicopter crashes in Crimea, both pilots dead
The ministry claims that the accident happened “during a planned training flight”.
“The flight was carried out without the weapon payload, no buildings were damaged on the ground. A technical failure is preliminarily believed to have caused the crash,” the statement reads.
Local Telegram channels posted a photo that is believed to be from the crash site. According to one such channel, the helicopter crashed in the village of Svetloye. This report has not been officially confirmed.
Crimea, Governor Sergey Aksyonov reported that the Russian air-defense systems had downed a Ukrainian drone in the western part of the peninsula. He clarified that no one was injured and no buildings were damaged.
How Russia’s Rich Get Their Luxuries Now
More than a year into Vladimir Putin’s invasion, the web of global trade has adjusted to Western sanctions, with a network of middlemen sending cars, electronics and more to Russia.
On a dusty roadside on the outskirts of Dubai, Sohrab Fani is profiting from the West’s response to the war in Ukraine: his shop installs seat heaters into cars being re-exported to Russia.
Twelve thousand heating pads languished in his warehouse for years, he said, until Russia’s invasion and the resulting Western sanctions drove American, European and Japanese automakers out of the Russian market. Now, Russians import those cars via Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates — and because cars shipped to the Middle East tend to be made for warm climates, accessories shops like Mr. Fani’s are doing a brisk business outfitting them for winter weather.
“When the Russians came, I sold out,” Mr. Fani said, so he ordered several thousand more seat-heating pads. “In Russia, they have sanctions. Here, there is not. Here, there is business.”
More than a year into President Vladimir V. Putin’s invasion, Western sanctions have damaged Russia’s economy but not crippled it. The web of global trade has adjusted, allowing the Russian leader to largely deliver on a key promise: that the war would not drastically disrupt the lifestyle of consumption for Russian elites.
Read More:
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/11/world/europe/dubai-russia-cars-export.html
Head of Russia’s Global Malware Network ‘Snake’ Cut Off by Five Eyes Alliance
Authorities across the Five Eyes intelligence alliance - Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the United States - announced that a multi-national cyber operation had cut off the head of “Snake,” a global malware and data theft network created by Russia’s principal intelligence agency, the Federal Security Service (FSB).
Brought to life in 2003 by FSB’s Center 16, which oversees Russia’s long-term intelligence gathering operations, Snake infiltrated computer systems across no less than 50 countries for nearly 20 years. Many of these, the U.S. Justice Department (DOJ) said, belonged to NATO member states.
The Russian government has long been known to engage in malicious cyber espionage.
Amongst the Kremlin’s goals in doing so are “to suppress certain social and political activity, to steal intellectual property, and to harm regional and international adversaries,” according to a Russia cyber threat overview by the U.S. Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA).
In this endeavor, the Snake implant is considered the most sophisticated tool in Center 16’s arsenal for long-term intelligence collection on sensitive targets, according to a joint advisory released by the CISA, in cooperation with its domestic and international intelligence partners.
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Such a great source for news from the war. Thank you for your work!