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Ukraine in Brief: Latest regional news May 18, 2022 (photo, video)

An enemy Su-34 was destroyed near Kupyansk

Operational information from the regions of Ukraine from the UWI 17.05.2022

Materials prepared by Tetiana Kliuchnyk-Horobets, Tetyana Pidgorna

Ukraine briefly:

It has been the eighty-fourth day of Ukrainian heroic resistance against the russian military aggression.

The enemy continues its offensive eastward. The enemy continued heavy shelling along the entire contact line and in the defensive positions of our troops towards Donetsk and Slovyansk.

Towards Volyn and Polissia, units of the armed forces of Belarus defend the Ukrainian-Belarusian border.

Towards Siviersk, the enemy bombarded the settlements of Yanzhulivka and Progres, Chernihiv and Sumy oblasts with mort

ar and artillery.

The enemy equipped additional firing positions and erected defensive structures in the border areas of Bryansk and Kursk regions.

As a result of the sucessful offensive, our troops liberated the village of Dementievka. The enemy launched an offensive towards the settlement of Ternova. The fighting continues.

Towards Liman, the enemy is trying to gain a foothold on the previously occupied lines. The enemy used aviation to strike civilian objects in the areas of Toshkivka, Zolote, Avdiivka, Vladimyrivka and Vodyane.

Towards Bakhmut, Avdiivka and Kurakhiv, the enemy launched the offensive, but had no success.

Towards Novopavlivsk, Zaporizhzhia and Southern Bug, the enemy shelled infrastructural facilities and residential buildings.

There are no significant changes towards Bessarabia.

Today, Ukraine celebrates the Memorial Day of the Crimean Tatar people genocide.

On May 18, 1944, the first train of Crimean Tatars was sent from the peninsula. In total, about 200K people were deported.

President Vladimir Zelenskyy passed a bill to the Verkhovna Rada to extend martial law and the period of drafting into military service for 90 days.

On May 17, the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine decided to cancel state regulation of fuel prices. This decision is expected to reduce the fuel shortage in Ukraine.

Eastern regions

Kharkiv oblast

Russian troops focused on preventing the advance of Ukrainian defenders towards Tsyrkuny, Russkie Tishki, Cherkasskie Tishki and Pitomnik which were under artillery fire.

As a result of the successful offensive, the village of Dementievka was liberated.

The enemy has launched the offensive towards the settlement of Ternova. The fighting continues.

As per the head of the Kharkiv Regional Military Administration Oleg Siniehubov, 6 people were wounded as a result of the shelling of Kharkiv and the region. 3 people were wounded as Tsyrkuny, Prudyanka, Olkhovatka were struck. This night shells hit Kievsky district in Kharkiv. There were 3 victims of Saltivka and Pyatihatki shelling.

According to the Dergachyov City Council, the russian army destroyed the Prudyanka settlement club with bombardment.

Donetsk oblast

The situation is tense and сomplicated in Donbass. The russian army continues its offensive in Slovyansk, Liman, Severodonetsk, Bakhmut, Avdiivka, and Kurakhiv.

Azovstal defenders in occupied Olenivka (“DPR”) are waiting for an exchange.

The villages of Popasnya community were bombarded yesterday with air strikes launched from Su-35 aircraft. Houses in Zolotarivka, Kamyshevakha, Vrubovka, as well as in the town of Hirne were badly damaged.

In the front lines of Luhansk and Donetsk oblasts, twelve enemy attacks were repelled in the past 24 hours. Three tanks, three artillery systems, six pieces of armored fighting vehicles and seven enemy vehicles were destroyed.

Air defense units shot down nine Orlan-10 unmanned aerial vehicles and one ZALA operational tactical unmanned aerial vehicle system.

According to the head of the Donetsk Regional Military Administration Pavlo Kyrylenko, the invaders shelled Avdiivka School #1 in Donetsk oblast with banned phosphorus munitions. The building burned down to the ground. There were no casualties.

The invaders destroyed the “old synagogue” building in Mariupol and the center of the Jewish community, according to the city council.

According to the Mariupol City Council, due to bombing of Azovstal, there is a threat of complete extinction of the Azov sea. As a result of hostilities, the technical structure holding back tens of thousands of tons of concentrated hydrogen sulfide solution might have been damaged. The leakage of this liquid will completely kill flora and fauna of the Azov sea. Dangerous substances can penetrate into the Black and Mediterranean Sea. According to the city mayor, international experts and the UN should be allowed to Mariupol to investigate the situation and prevent a global ecological disaster.

Russian media reported that 959 Ukrainian defenders were released from the besieged Azovstal plant. However, Ukrainian authorities reported that 264 fighters were taken to the temporarily occupied territory of Donetsk oblast.

Nevertheless, the national resistance in the city reminds invaders that they are not on their land. Photo by Territorial Defense of the AFU:

According to the city council, about a quarter of the pre-war population remains in Mariupol. Locals are in a complete information vacuum, while russian propaganda spreads fakes about the alleged “100,000 dead” and “the invaders taking Kyiv without a fight.”

Luhansk oblast

The aggressor has amassed about 15 helicopters in Luhansk oblast to support the offensive by air trying to launch an offensive towards the villages of Borovenka and Severodonetsk.

There is no power supply in the region. According to the head of the Luhansk Regional Administration Sergei Haidai, there was a blackout at the last large substation. He also added there is fighting near Lysychansk. The power line was hit.

Northern regions

Zhytomyr oblast

According to the Zhytomyr city council, children will no longer learn the russian language at the schools in the region. “The russian language in Zhytomyr schools will not be studied even as an optional discipline”, – said the mayor Sergei Sukhomlyn. From June 1, language camps for children who moved to Zhytomyr from eastern Ukraine will start working in the city. Kids will be able to enhance their Ukrainian language skills there.

The media outlet “Korosten Today” reports that the monument to the All-Ukrainian railway workers’ strike, which was renamed by the authorities Korosten railway workers in light of “decommunization” in 2015, was demolished. It was dismantled by activists of the public association “Youth of the Northern Territory”.

Kyiv and the Kyiv oblast

According to the Kyiv Regional Administration, over 4 500 private and multi-storey residential buildings were destroyed during active hostilities in the region. Bucha, Irpin, Gostomel, Borodianka, Makarovka, Velykodymer and Peskovka territorial communities were badly damaged.

On May 18, the largest fire since the beginning of the year broke out in the Chornobyl zone, according to the State Agency for Exclusion Zone Management.

It burned 1 500 hectares near the Zelenyi Cape checkpoint in Opachichi Forestry. Fire extinguishing was complicated by windy weather, limited technical resources after the occupation and threat of mine explosions. Radiation condition is under control, but smoke may move towards Vyshgorod and Kyiv.

Chernihiv oblast

In the border settlements of Chernihiv and Sumy oblasts, the russian military continues shelling Ukrainian positions and civilian infrastructure. Towards Sieversk, enemy units bombarded the village of Yanzhulivka with mortars and artillery. The number of dead and injured as a result of the airstrike on the Desna settlement has increased. The State Emergency Service reports that 11 people were killed, 14 wounded.

Sumy oblast

The night in Sumy oblast was turbulent. At half past five in the morning, russians fired from their territory on the village of Dmitrovka, Akhtyrsky district. There were no casualties, but a civilian house was hit.

The russians struck twice the territory of Shostka district with mortar and artillery from their territory. The nature near Seredino-Budy was damaged. There were no casualties.

A change in the curfew time on the territory of Sumy oblast has been announced. From May 18, 2022, the curfew will last from 10 pm to 5 am throughout the region. Also, all passes, which gave the right to move during the curfew, issued before 13.05.2022, are considered to be invalid. Only passes issued after May 13 are considered valid for security reasons.

In the evening, the explosions were heard in Konotop located in the oblast.

Central regions

Dnipropetrovsk oblast

A 15-year-old child from Hirne is fighting for life in the intensive care unit of Dnipro. He suffered a kidney injury the day before yesterday after the settlement was shelled by russians.

In total, there were 15 artillery attacks in the regional center on May 18. Twelve multi-story buildings were damaged, with apartments and roofs burned out. Also the city’s trade pavilions were engulfed in flames.

The head of the Dnipro Regional Military Administration Valentin Reznichenko reported 2 houses were damaged as a result of the morning attack. Debris from the missile fell on a private yard. Another missile hit the transport infrastructure facility and it was destroyed. Three people were injured in a missile attack on Dnipro. Two women and a man have shrapnel wounds. They were hospitalized.

Kirovohrad oblast

Seven soldiers from Kirovohrad oblast were killed in the war with the russian invaders. Kropivnytskyi city council reported that Yuriy Evenko, Alexander Hordienko, Vitaliy Kulish, Artem Kozhukhar died on the battlefield. Volodymyr Dolzhenko from the village of Akimovka and a resident of the village of Mala Vilshan, Serhiy Buzhukhov, Serhiy Buchyla from the village Mala Vilshanka and Andriy Semenov from the village Pershotravenka in Kompaniivka municipality died when fighting with invaders and defending their country.

Poltava oblast

In Poltava oblast, people paid their last respects to twelve defenders of Ukraine who died on the battlefield. In Shebelynka, Kharkiv oblast, two defenders lost their lives on May 15 near Huliai Pole in Zaporizhzhia oblast. Three were killed on May 10 in Donetsk oblast and two defenders were fatally wounded during active hostilities near Borovsky and Belohorivka in Luhansk oblast. The soldiers were buried in the communities with all military honors.

Vinnytsia oblast

A Ukrainian hero, pilot Serhiy Parkhomenko, who died on the battlefield, was buried in Vinnytsia. Planes flew in the sky over the city in his honor. The hero was buried in Vinnytsia, the capital of Ukrainian military aviation, since hostilities were underway in Kharkiv oblast, where Serhiy was born.

In the evening of May 18, explosions could be heard in Vinnytsia.

Southern regions

Zaporizhzhia oblast

Zaporizhzhia authorities reported that utility services could be supplied during the war. Hence, as of May 18, 21 118 households in 68 settlements of the region have no power supply due to damage of lines.

Repairs can not be carried out on Huliai Pole, Vasilievsky and Orekhovsky networks due to active hostilities.

The situation with gas supply has not significantly changed. As of today, 69 981 households in 88 settlements of the region have no gas supply.

Repairs are to be carried out when technicians can get the access damage areas.

There are more and more damaged residential buildings. As of today, 1 082 residential houses were destroyed or partially damaged as a result of active hostilities in Zaporizhzhia oblast.

Zaporizhzhia regional authorities are appealing to those who can help support the shelter of Lilia and Anatoliy Mukhin’s family in Zaporizhzhia, who help abandoned animals. The authorities are attracting local philanthropists. The director of the Department of Environmental Protection Serhiy Karpiy handed over the first batch of aid to the shelter.

Kherson oblast

On May 17, the russian troops fired on a convoy of civilian cars with multi launch rocket systems. According to the deputy of the regional council Ihor Yosipenko, there were about 100 cars in the convoy trying to pass from Kryvyi Rih to Berislav. As a result of shelling at least 3 people were killed, some wounded.

On the contact line in Mykolaiv and Kherson oblasts, Ukrainian defenders destroyed 26 units of equipment. 2 russian trains with ammunition were also destroyed.

Mykolaiv oblast

Mykolaiv received five buses provided by the Warsaw municipality. The buses will operate in Mykolaiv. They can be used to evacuate citizens.

Municipal utility company “Mykolaivvodokanal” supplies water according to the schedule: from 7:00 to 10:00 and from 18:00 to 20:00.

According to the head of “Mykolaivvodokanal” Boris Dudenko, the schedule was established because of the limited capacity to raise water from the river and pump it from wells, as well as due to the curfew.

Odesa oblast

The russian army launched a missile attack on Odesa oblast. The missile was fired from the Black Sea.

According to preliminary information, there are no significant injuries or damages. An investigative and operational group is working at the site.

Western regions

Ivano-Frankivsk oblast

The city mayor Ruslana Martsinkiv announced that a charity mini-fair would be held in the city on May 19.

Its goal is to raise funds for high capacity power banks for soldiers from Ivano-Frankivsk, serving on the front line in the 80th Airborne Assault Brigade, as well as for ambulances. The fair will take place on Veche Square.

Lviv oblast

Lviv Regional Scientific-Pedagogical Library convenes PORUCH psychological support groups for internally displaced teenagers.

Classes will be held by applied professional psychologists.

The project is implemented within the humanitarian initiative “To stand. To Win. Rise Again”!

Rivne oblast

In Rivne, free sports equipment rentals have been opened.

One of them was opened on the basis of sports facilities in Rivne State Humanitarian University and the other one in the Rivne Higher Vocational School #1.

The rentals are available both for citizens and internally displaced people.

DRACS Regional Department of the Rivne oblast reported that 1 711 families had settled in the region since the war broke out.

The Office of the State Educational Quality Service has investigated the state of education under martial law.

The average rate of students connecting to online classes in Rivne oblast is 78%. In almost all educational institutions the schedule was not changed, but only the start time of lessons. Most classes were held in sync.

Also the service noted positive trends in improving the quality of education. So they will be applied in 47% of schools at the beginning of the school year.

82% of internally displaced people are involved in the educational process.

Among key challenges in arranging the educational process, interviewed teachers highlighted the tense emotional and psychological state of both students and teachers, low motivation to learn, education not at the place of residence, and air raid alarms.

Transcarpathian oblast

HSQ special aviation teams of the State Emergency Service of Ukraine are trained in the areas where local territorial defense is stationed.

Thus, the region is preparing for the warmest season of the year.

Chernivtsi oblast

During the war about a hundred companies moved to Chernivtsi oblast from areas where there were threats of hostilities. These are the companies of light industry, food and wood processing. Among the companies that moved to Chernivtsi oblast is Yakaboo book platform.

Ukrainian Women’s Guard