Ukraine ‘contains’ new Russian invasion at border zone
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A fresh wave of invading Russian forces have been contained by the border near Kharkiv, Ukraine’s military said after Vladimir Putin’s forces claimed to capture five villages.
Moscow’s troops were being held back in a militarily contested “gray zone”, a spokesperson of the Khortytsia group of forces told national TV.
“The enemy is contained in the gray zone, and it is not expanding,” Nazar Voloshyn said.
The Ukrainian military said reinforcements were sent to the region to help stabilise positions and limit Russia’s advances after it launched its new offensive on Friday.
Artillery, mortar, and aerial bombardments hit more than 30 different towns and villages, killing at least three people and injuring five others, said Kharkiv Gov. Oleh Syniehubov.
“As of now the enemy keeps pressing in the north of our region,” he said.
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05:03 PM BST
That’s all for today
Thank you for following our coverage. The key developments from the day were:
A “fierce battle” is underway in the Kharkiv region, with nearly two thousand people forced to evacuate from villages near Russia after Moscow launched a surprise cross-border ground offensive.
Vladimir Putin’s forces have taken five border villages in Ukraine’s Kharkiv region, its defence ministry has claimed.
Russian troops have also taken the village of Keramik in the eastern Donetsk region, where Moscow has made slow but steady advances in recent months.
Kharkiv’s governor Oleh Syniehubov said there was no imminent danger to the regional capital of Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second largest city.
Russia has made “tactically significant gains” in its offensive along the Russian-Ukraine border in northern Kharkiv Oblast, the Institute for the Study of War has said.
A Ukrainian artillery attack hit a restaurant in central Donetsk hosting a party celebrating the 10th anniversary of an illegal referendum to separate from Ukraine.
A Russian fighter aircraft accidentally released a FAB-500 munition on a civilian area in Belgorod, Russia, on May 4, according to the UK’s Ministry of Defence.
Latvia will soon provide Kyiv with domestically-produced drones and radar systems, Ukraine’s ambassador to the country has said.
03:54 PM BST
Latvia to provide Ukraine with drones and radar systems
Latvia will soon provide Kyiv with domestically-produced drones and radar systems, Ukraine’s ambassador to the country has said.
In an interview with Ukrinform reported by the Kyiv Independent, Anatolii Kutsevol, said military-technical cooperation between Ukrainian and Latvian businesses was increasing.
“I think that over time we will have more media reports about the transfer of drones and radar defense systems manufactured in Latvia to Ukraine,” he said.
“There are other areas of cooperation, but they cannot be named now for security reasons,” he added.
Latvia has been one of Ukraine’s staunchest supporters since the outbreak of the full-scale war and annually allocates 0.25 per cent of its GDP to provide military aid to Ukraine, amounting to a total of 392 million euros ($419 million).
03:50 PM BST
Attack on Donetsk restaurant hit celebration of illegal referendum to separate from Ukraine
A Ukrainian artillery attack hit a restaurant in central Donetsk hosting a party celebrating the 10th anniversary of an illegal referendum to separate from Ukraine.
Denis Pushilin, the Russia-installed governor of the region which was formally annexed by the Kremlin in 2022, said that three people were killed in the attack.
“It was a direct hit on the Paradise restaurant in the Kirovsky district of Donetsk,” he said.
Video showed people sprinting away from a large explosion in central Donetsk.
Mr Pushilin also said that the attack was carried out by a Himars, a US long-range artillery gun supplied to Ukraine.
Donetsk has been an important administrative and military centre for Russia since its initial invasion of Ukraine in 2014 and also for its full-scale invasion since 2022.
Other missile and rocket strikes on the city have killed Russian and separatist officials meeting at restaurants.
03:14 PM BST
Pictured: Missile strike on Donetsk restaurant
03:08 PM BST
Ukrainians flee Lyptsi
One 61-year-old woman, Lyubov Nikolaieva, told AFP she had fled the border village of Lyptsi along with her 81-year-old mother.
“It’s impossible to live there,” said Ms Nikolaieva, adding that her family “stayed there until the last moment”.
“There is constant incoming fire: those guided aerial bombs and mortar shells whistling overhead. It became very scary,” she said.
02:19 PM BST
No imminent danger in Kharkiv city
Kharkiv’s governor Oleh Syniehubov said there was no imminent danger to the regional capital of Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second largest city, amid active fighting in the region.
He added that there was no need to begin evacuating its roughly 1.3 million inhabitants who continue to live there despite regular missile and drone strikes.
“We clearly understand what forces the enemy is using in the north of our territory. Certainly, the escalation can grow, the pressure can increase, it can strengthen its military units, its military presence,” he said.
“As of now the enemy keeps pressing in the north of our region. Our forces have repelled nine attacks,” he told a news conference.
01:43 PM BST
Three killed and eight wounded by strike on restaurant in Donetsk
A missile strike on a restaurant in Donetsk, eastern Ukraine, killed three people and wounded eight, the head of the region’s Russian-backed administration wrote on Telegram.
“As a result of a direct strike on the Paradise restaurant in Donetsk’s Kirov district, three civilians were killed: a woman who worked at the restaurant and two diners,” Denis Pushilin said, adding that “currently we know of eight injured”.
01:35 PM BST
Report from the frontline
Our photographer Simon Townsley is on the frontline. He reports:
“We’ve just visited Kostyantynivka which potentially is next in line should Chasiv Yar fall – an increasingly likely prospect.
There is an empty feel to the town.
No evacuation is taking place, and shops are open, but there are few people in town. Nobody has any real idea what is happening. It is very much a wait-and-see moment.”
12:49 PM BST
Russian forces ‘contained’
Russian forces in Kharkiv have been contained and not advanced further, Ukraine’s military said on May 11, reported by the Kyiv Independent.
Speaking to national TV, Nazar Voloshyn, the spokesperson of the Khortytsia group of forces, said Moscow’s troops were being held back in the so-called “gray zone,” border settlements that lie along the oblast’s border with Russia.
“The enemy is contained in the gray zone, and it is not expanding,” he said.
12:01 PM BST
Russia has made ‘tactically significant gains’
Russia has made “tactically significant gains” in its offensive along the Russian-Ukraine border in northern Kharkiv Oblast, the Institute for the Study of War has said.
“This is likely the initial phase of an offensive operation north of Kharkiv City that has limited operational objectives but is meant to achieve the strategic effect of drawing Ukrainian manpower and material from other critical sectors of the front in eastern Ukraine,” it said.
It added that the Russian forces do not seem to be immediately pursuing a large-scale sweeping offensive operation to envelop, encircle, and seize Kharkiv City.
11:46 AM BST
Ukrainian school children rehearse for prom
This is Kharkiv! Rehearsal for the school prom at 5:30 am this morning. pic.twitter.com/Y7eh7BGxYU
— Maria Avdeeva (@maria_avdv) May 11, 2024
11:38 AM BST
‘Fierce battle’ underway in Kharkiv
A “fierce battle” is underway in Kharkiv, with nearly two thousand people forced to evacuate from villages near Russia after Moscow launched a surprise cross-border ground offensive.
Russian forces has made advances in the area it was pushed back from nearly two years ago – the latest in a series of gains as Ukrainian forces find themselves outgunned and outmanned.
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky said a “fierce battle” was under way in Kharkiv, adding: “We must disrupt Russian offensive operations and return the initiative to Ukraine.”
“A total of 1,775 people have been evacuated,” Kharkiv governor Oleg Synegubov wrote on social media, adding that Russian artillery and mortar attacks had affected 30 settlements over the past 24 hours.
The Kharkiv region has been mostly under Ukrainian control since September 2022.
11:25 AM BST
Russia says it has taken five villages in Ukraine’s Kharkiv region
Vladimir Putin’s forces have taken five border villages in Ukraine’s Kharkiv region, where Russia launched an offensive on Friday, its defence ministry has claimed.
In a briefing, the defence ministry said that Russian forces had taken the villages of Pletenivka, Ohirtseve, Borysivka, Pylna and Strilechna, all of which are directly on the border with Russia’s Belgorod region.
The briefing also said that Russian troops had taken the village of Keramik in the eastern Donetsk region, where Moscow has made slow but steady advances in recent months.
It comes after Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelensky said a “fierce battle” was under way, and evacuated almost 2,000 people.
10:46 AM BST
Ukrainian attack kills three at oil depot in Luhansk region
10:27 AM BST
Russia accidentally fires on its territory, says MoD
A Russian fighter aircraft accidentally released a FAB-500 munition on a civilian area in Belgorod, Russia, on May 4, according to the UK’s Ministry of Defence.
Thirty houses and 10 cars were damaged, with five individuals requiring hospital care.
“The Belgorod Regional Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov confirmed the explosion and damage on Razdobarkina street, Belgorod without identifying the cause,” the MoD said in a post on X.
“This is not an isolated incident. On 18 February a FAB-250 was reportedly released on Soloti in the Belgorod area which led to the evacuation of 150 residents. Media outlets suggest that such discharges are fairly common with 20 lost munitions accidentally dropped in the Belgorod region alone between March to April 2024.”
Latest Defence Intelligence update on the situation in Ukraine – 11 May 2024.
Find out more about Defence Intelligence's use of language: https://t.co/fm0UBRirHg #StandWithUkraine 🇺🇦 pic.twitter.com/H9ld1CzQZ9— Ministry of Defence 🇬🇧 (@DefenceHQ) May 11, 2024
10:10 AM BST
Pictured: Residents evacuate border towns
09:50 AM BST
‘It’s impossible to stay’: Ukrainians evacuated from border towns
Residents of Ukrainian border towns were evacuated from their homes on Friday, and spoke to Reuters news agency about leaving.
“We are leaving because we are dying from the ‘Russian world,’” said Valerii Dubskyi, 60, referring to a Russian concept of extending Moscow’s influence beyond its borders.
“It can go to hell, together with (Russian president Vladimir) Putin and their authorities. They are our enemies. They tested all types of weapons on us, except for the nuclear bomb.”
Dubskyi said he had not eaten for 24 hours. Even fetching well water was impossible under an unending torrent of shelling.
“During the bombardments, you either rush to the basement or out of the basement,” he said. “There and back.”
Groups of evacuees sat on benches clutching handfuls of possessions, tightly packed bags alongside them on the ground.
Halyna Ukrainyk, clutching a cat while waiting for her bus, said the shelling started the previous day at about 3 am She and others were confined to a cellar.
“A street is totally destroyed. Shelling,” she said. “It’s horrible what is going on there. It’s impossible to stay there.”
09:43 AM BST
Ukraine ground force commander expects Russian push ahead of arms supplies
The commander of Ukraine’s ground forces has said he expects the 26-month-old war against Russia to enter a critical phase in the next two months as Moscow tries to exploit delays in supplying weapons to Kyiv.
“Russia knows that if we receive enough weapons within a month or two, the situation could turn against them,” General Oleskander Pavliuk told The Economist magazine.
Supplies of US weapons slowed for months while an aid package proposed by president Joe Biden was held up by wrangling in Congress. The measure was passed late last month.
President Volodymyr Zelenski said on Friday that Ukraine still needed “timely” future supplies of key weapons.
The Economist said Mr Pavliuk believed Moscow would stay focused on its slow advance through Luhansk and Donetsk regions in the east. Ukraine needed more air defence, he said, and would get a boost with the anticipated delivery of F-16 fighter jets.
09:41 AM BST
One killed in Ukrainian drone strike in Russia’s Belgorod region
One man has been killed and another injured after a drone hit a parked truck in the border village of Novostroyevka-Pervaya, according to the governor of Russia’s Belgorod region.
Belgorod borders Ukraine’s Kharkiv region, and has come under regular attack since Moscow ordered tens of thousands of troops into Ukraine in Feb 2022.
Separately, Russia’s defence ministry said on Saturday that it had repelled a string of Ukrainian attacks on its territory, using drones and rocket artillery.
In a statement posted on the Telegram messenger app, the ministry said its forces had downed 21 rockets and 16 drones across Russia’s Belgorod, Kursk and Volgograd regions.
