As the war enters its 808th day, here are the main events.
Here is the situation on Sunday, May 12, 2024.
Struggle
- A missile attack on a restaurant in Donetsk, eastern Ukraine, killed three people and wounded eight, said Denis Pushilin, head of the Russian-backed administration of the region, adding that there were two attacks with rocket launchers. American HIMARS precision.
- One woman was killed, 29 people were injured and hundreds of buildings, including a school and a hospital, were damaged after Ukraine attacked Russia's Belgorod region over the weekend, according to regional governor Vyacheslav Gladkov.
- Gladkov said the city of Belgorod, the region's administrative center, faced an increased risk of Ukrainian attack, with the entire region under airstrike alert on Sunday.
- The Russian Defense Ministry says its air defense forces destroyed two Soviet-era conventional ballistic missiles launched overnight by Ukrainian forces over Belgorod.
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Fierce fighting took place overnight on the outskirts of Ukraine's northeastern Kharkiv region, as Moscow claimed to have captured five villages and was advancing into the Donetsk region. However, kyiv said it was repelling the attacks and fighting for control of the settlements.
- President Volodymyr Zelenskyy admitted in his late-night video address that battles were raging around seven border villages in Kharkiv and called the situation in the southern Donetsk region “extremely difficult.”
- Kharkiv regional governor Oleg Synegubov said more than 1,700 people were evacuated from areas near the Russian border, as Moscow launched a surprise ground offensive in the region.
Politics and diplomacy
- Russian President Vladimir Putin announced he would give additional tasks to two key government officials who oversee the defense industry and energy sectors, as the Kremlin chief prepares the world's second-largest oil exporter for a longer war in Ukraine.
- Current Lithuanian president Gitanas Nauseda, a staunch supporter of Ukraine, and his closest opponent, Prime Minister Ingrida Simonyte, vow to confront the Russian threat at home as the country heads to the polls on Sunday. Voters in the Baltic state are concerned that the country could be the target of Russian aggression.
- German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said Ukrainians with residence and work permits in Germany could stay even as Ukraine seeks to recruit citizens living abroad to serve in the war against Russia.
