War in Ukraine, day 803. Several heavy artillery rockets hit a power plant in Donetsk

The most important events of the last 24 hours:

• Russia announces that it has captured two more towns in eastern Ukraine
• Kiev: Russia’s plans to conduct tactical nuclear exercises are nothing more than continued nuclear blackmail
• The Russian nuclear exercises announced on Monday are a response to the claims of “Western representatives”
• A Russian drone attack cuts off electricity to parts of Ukraine’s Sumy region
• Vladimir Putin instructed the General Staff to prepare for exercises on the use of non-strategic nuclear weapons
• The Russians launched guided bombs in the Ukrainian region of Kherson
• Several heavy artillery rockets hit a power plant in Donetsk
• Dozens of Russian tanks and armored vehicles, destroyed in Donetsk, presented in a video by Ukraine
• Ten people were injured on Easter Sunday after a Russian attack on the city of Kharkiv
• Poland’s foreign minister visits the US to discuss security issues and the war in Ukraine
• The Russian army says it has taken control of a new town in eastern Ukraine

Update 15:57. Russian forces have taken control of the settlements of Solovyov and Kotliarivka in eastern Ukraine, the Ministry of Defense in Moscow announced on Monday, Reuters informs.

Russia has made slow but steady progress since capturing Avdiivka, with several villages in the area falling to Putin’s forces.

Update 15:10. Russia’s plans to conduct tactical nuclear exercises are nothing more than continued nuclear blackmail, the spokesman for the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense in Kiev said on Monday.

“We don’t see anything new here, except for the informational effect and statements… Nuclear blackmail is a constant practice of the Putin regime,” Andri Yusov told the national television station.

Update 13:25. The Russian nuclear exercises announced on Monday are a response to the statements of “Western representatives”, including French President Emmanuel Macron, regarding the possible sending of “NATO soldiers” to Ukraine, the Kremlin explained, reports AFP.

Earlier in the day, the Russian Ministry of Defense announced that its army will organize “in the near future” nuclear exercises in which troops stationed near Ukraine will participate in particular, in response to the “threats” of Western leaders.

The spokesman of the Russian presidency, Dmitri Peskov, contacted by AFP regarding this matter, said that it is about the statements of Emmanuel Macron, some “British representatives” and a “representative of the American Senate, if I am not mistaken”.

These leaders “talked about the will and even about the intention to send armed contingents to Ukraine, respectively to put NATO soldiers in front of the Russian army”, he said.

Dmitri Peskov estimated that it is about “a new cycle of escalation of tensions”, denouncing the “very dangerous rhetoric” of the French president.

Emmanuel Macron spoke again at the beginning of May about the possibility of sending Western troops to the ground in Ukraine if Moscow breaks through the “front lines” and if Kiev requests it.

“To rule this out a priori means not learning the lessons of the last two years”, given that the NATO countries initially ruled out sending tanks and planes to Ukraine, and in the end changed their minds, he added.

The French head of state already created a controversy towards the end of February by stating that this sending of troops “must not be ruled out” in the future.

Most of the European states, as well as the USA, distanced themselves from his statements, even if afterwards they seemed to take a step in the same direction after the advances of the Russian troops on the eastern front, notes AFP.

Update 12:00. A Russian drone attack cuts off electricity to parts of Ukraine’s Sumy region. More than 400,000 people were left without electricity.

The drone strike knocked out power to more than 400,000 consumers in parts of Ukraine’s Sumy region, officials said on Monday, after Kiev said its air defense forces shot down 12 drones in the region overnight, Reuters reports .

Work to restore electricity continues. 91 localities out of the 1,325 affected were still without electricity in the region, the national grid operator Ukrenergo said on Telegram.

“The electricity supply has been restored in the affected settlements and in some parts of the city of Sumî,” the region’s military administration said.

The Ukrainian Air Force said Russia had launched 13 attack drones against Ukraine. Anti-aircraft defense systems shot down 12 of them over the Sumî region, writes Mediafax.

Update 11.15. Vladimir Putin has instructed the General Staff to prepare for exercises on the use of non-strategic nuclear weapons, the Ministry of Defense announced.

“In order to increase the degree of training of the non-strategic nuclear forces in order to carry out combat missions, the General Staff has started preparations for conducting exercises with the missile formations of the Southern Military District”, the statement reads.

The maneuvers will take place in the near future and will also involve the military aviation and navy.

The purpose of the exercise is to maintain the readiness of the personnel and equipment of the units for the combat use of non-strategic nuclear weapons in order to respond and ensure the territorial integrity and sovereignty of the state.

It is mentioned that this is also a response to “provocative statements and threats of individual Western officials” against Russia, writes ria.ru.

Update 09:50. Two Ukrainians, 26 and 36 years old, who have been on the mountain for several days, lost and exhausted, are being sought by the mountain rescuers from Maramures.

According to Salvamont Maramureș, the search is taking place in the Maramureș Mountains, in the steep area of ​​Pop Ivan Peak.

Two Ukrainian citizens aged 26 and 36, lost and exhausted, have been on the mountain for several days.

“They were located by the colleagues from STS Maramureș. In the search and rescue operation, a team of SPJ Salvamont Maramureș went together with a team of the Valea Vișeului Border Police from ITPF Sighetu Marmației”, the quoted source said.

Update 08:30. The Russians launched guided bombs in the Ukrainian region of Kherson, according to the Ukrainian Air Force, cited by Ukrainska Pravda.

Initially, the Air Force reported that there was enemy tactical air activity in the waters of the Sea of ​​Azov and that there was a threat to use air weapons of destruction.

The Air Force later added that there were “launches of aerial guided bombs by tactical aviation in the Kherson region.”

The air alert was canceled at 6 a.m. in the Kherson region.

Ukraine’s air force said on Monday that its air defense systems had destroyed 12 of 13 attack drones launched by Russia, Reuters reports.

The drones were destroyed over the Sumy region in northeastern Ukraine, the air force said on Telegram. It is not clear what happened to the drone that was not shot down.

Update 00:00. Russian forces hit the Sloviansk thermal power plant in the Donetsk region with five heavy artillery rockets on Easter Sunday, destroying several locations of the power plant.

The announcement was made by the deputy head of the Military Administration of the city of Mikolaivka, Volodimir Proskunin.

Fortunately, no casualties were reported. No details have yet been given on the extent of the damage.

It is not clear from the first information whether the power plant, with a capacity of 830 megawatts and located just outside Sloviansk, is currently operational and generating power.

War in Ukraine, May 5, 2024 | Volodymyr Zelensky, Easter message: “Today our prayer is for all Ukrainians”

War in Ukraine, May 4, 2024 | Six injured, following a Russian drone attack in the Ukrainian regions of Kharkiv and Dnipropetrovsk

War in Ukraine, May 3, 2024 | Ukrainians advised not to go to church on Easter, for fear of a Russian attack

War in Ukraine, May 2, 2024 | Huge fire in Odessa, after a Russian attack with ballistic missiles

War in Ukraine, May 1, 2024 | Russia claims it hit the Ukrainian Army’s Southern Group Command in the Odesa attack