Ukraine Breaking News Today Live on 05-11-2024

The world in focus, as seen by a Canadian leading global affairs analyst, writer and speaker, in his review of international media.

A United Nations resolution in support of Palestinian membership passed with overwhelming support on Friday, and granted new privileges to the Palestinian Authority in its current capacity as a non-member observer state. The resolution won a resounding majority of 143 votes in favor. Twenty five abstained, and nine nations voted against the text: Czechia, Hungary, Argentina, Micronesia, Nauru, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Israel and the United States. The text, put forward by the United Arab Emirates, calls for the UN’s powerful Security Council – which must rule on Palestinian membership – to “reconsider the matter favourably.” “The State of Palestine is qualified for membership in the United Nations,” it asserts. With emotion running high on Friday, more than 100 national representatives asked to speak about the resolution, with most emphasizing strong support for Palestine - CNN

A State Department report says U.S. weapons might have been used in violating humanitarian law by Israel, but does not make a specific enough finding to trigger punitive action against Israel. - NYT

Battles raged into the second day of Russia’s renewed push into the Kharkiv region. Ukraine is assessing whether the advance is meant to threaten Kharkiv itself or just to stretch Ukrainian forces.

Russia’s defense ministry said on Saturday that its forces had taken control of six border villages in the Kharkiv region.

The ministry claimed Russian troops had “liberated” the villages of Borysivka, Ohirtseve, Pletenivka, Pylna and Strilecha, AFP reported.

You know that Putin’s regime is worried when they feel the need to resort to nuclear blackmail. Lately, French President Macron seems to be worrying the Russians.

French President Emmanuel Macron is continuing his personal psychological duel against the dictator in the Kremlin, with vigor and resolve. If we recall, two and a half months ago, at an extremely difficult moment for Ukraine, he stated that defeating Russia in its war of aggression was an issue of his country’s honor and security. He also did not rule out putting French troops on the ground in Ukraine.

When the Kremlin responded with the usual threats, including the expected saber-rattling about nuclear strikes, Macron issued two clarifications meant for the ears of one specific individual.

The modern battlespace is replete with electronic devices gathering information, exchanging data, and controlling weapons systems – a situation often exploitable by the enemy through EW.

The technology war in the late spring of 2024, has gathered momentum, with the warring sides trying to outdo each other using both expensive electronic warfare (EW) systems and short-range homemade devices.

The impact of radio communications on warfare strategies: from the blitzkrieg to modern drones

Ukraine's Minister of Justice, says that,beause of wartime regulations, President Zelensky will remain the legitimate head of state even though the five-year term expires on May 21.

President Volodymyr Zelensky will retain his legitimacy and powers after his five-year term ends on May 21 until the election of the next head of state when wartime regulatons are lifted.  Ukraine's Minister of Justice, Denys Malyuska, affirmed this in an interview with BBC News Ukraine.

Justice Minister dismisses speculation on this matter

Warfare will never be the same after the Russo-Ukrainian War. For the first time in history, the use of unmanned aerial vehicles in huge numbers may determine which side prevails.

Tanks, once the stalwarts of ground combat, are increasingly being sidelined by unmanned aerial vehicles in Ukraine. Drones, frequently deployed as alternatives to traditional artillery, have been patrolling the skies, dropping explosives on humans and heavy armor alike. Soldiers entrenched in battle zones now dread the ominous buzz overhead – a signal that a drone, armed and ready, might soon release its deadly payload. Has the age of the killer robots finally arrived?

Drones serve multiple roles on the Ukrainian battlefield, including conducting reconnaissance missions, directing artillery, evacuating soldiers, and carrying out attacks by deploying bombs. The first-person-view (FPV) drones that drop explosives or can be used as a one-off kamikaze drone, wreak havoc across the battlefield. One Russian soldier recently pleaded on social media for pump shotguns to help stop Ukrainian drones because “they’re simply burning us.”

Latest from the British Defence Intelligence.

•  It has been reported that a Russian fighter aircraft accidentally released a FAB-500 munition on a civilian area in Belgorod, Russia on 04 May 2024. The Belgorod Regional Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov confirmed the explosion and damage on Razdobarkina street, Belgorod without identifying the cause. 30 houses and 10 cars were damaged, with five individuals requiring hospital care, illustrating the destructive power of the munition.
• 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.
• These instances indicate Russia's continued inability to successfully employ their munitions on intended targets. Such errors have destructive and lethal consequences for the Russian population.

With many transplanted students having had to leave their musical instruments behind in frontline areas, the donation allows them to keep honing their talents.

On May 8, in the Great Concert Hall of the Odesa National Music Academy, A. V. Nezhdanova, a donation ceremony was held for the arrival from Italy of 28 musical instruments for studying .

Russian forces made small advances in the area it was pushed back from nearly two years ago

Hundreds of people were evacuated from areas near the Russian border in Ukraine's Kharkiv region, the regional governor said Saturday, a day after Moscow launched a surprise ground offensive.

Russian forces made small 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.

US accelerates weapons supplies to Ukraine to help thwart new Russian offensive.

The United States is working around the clock to provide Ukraine with supplies to defend itself against an intensified Russian attack that could target Kharkiv, the White House said on Friday (10 May).

Russian forces launched an armored ground attack on Friday near Ukraine’s second largest city of Kharkiv in the northeast of the country and made small inroads, opening a new front in a war that has long been waged in the east and south.

Whether it’s roses blooming or buildings being rebuilt, the stories of how Ukrainians intend to heal their wounded nation – which in normal times might seem trivial – are still moving.

All stories, even ones that seem to have reached their finale, continue in some way.

Pavlo Petrichenko, the soldier in the 59th Brigade who, on March 29, created a petition to ban online casinos, died in battle on April 15. On April 16, President Zelensky promised to consider his petition and establish some kind of control over online casinos.

Developing story: Another plot to wreak havoc in Kyiv – this time a terrorist attack – has been prevented, according to Ukrainian intelligence sources.

The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) reported that they had foiled a terrorist attack in Kyiv intended for May 9 and planned by Russia’s GRU military intelligence.

SBU sources told Kyiv Post that “we cannot disclose any details now,” but provided a statement by spokesperson Artem Dekhtyarenko.

Two autocratic regimes offer up drones, missiles, equipment, munitions, and technologies to assist Putin’s “special military operation” efforts in Ukraine.

Since the beginning of the New Year, Russia has embarked on a massive onslaught targeting Ukrainian cities on a par with its bombing blitz at the start of the full-scale invasion in February 2022. This offensive assault was not surprising as Russia was believed to be purposely accumulating missiles and drones in the final several months of 2023. However, the source of some of the missiles used in Russia’s most recent bombing missions has touched off some serious consternation in Ukraine and in Western capitals.

In reaction to these latest barrages of bombs, the White House claimed that Russia had used North Korean ballistic missiles to strike Ukraine. This announcement was later verified by senior Ukrainian officials. On Jan. 9, 2024, the US, UK, Australia, Canada, Germany, the European Union and some 40 additional partner countries denounced North Korea’s export of ballistic missiles for Russian use.

Nazary Hryntsevych became a beloved figure for his defiant video appearance while in Russian captivity. Upon release, he returned to fight. On May 6 he was killed in action.

In a cathedral in the central Ukrainian city of Vinnytsia, in front of hundreds of mourners, Nazary Hryntsevych’s mother and girlfriend rested their heads on the side of his open coffin.

Known by the call sign Hrinka, the soldier had become a national hero and symbol of defiance against the Russian invasion.

As Georgia reels from ongoing protests over a Russian-style anti-foreign agent law, the country’s most influential oligarch has an interest in maintaining ties with Moscow.

Billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili has ruled Georgia from the shadows for more than a decade, nurturing relations with Moscow after it grabbed swathes of the Caucasus country, while also promising a future inside the EU.

This spring, he declared NGOs enemies from within, reviving a Russian-styled “foreign influence” law dropped last year because of a huge backlash.

Latest from the Institute for the Study of War.

Key Takeaways from the ISW:

• Russian forces began an offensive operation along the Russian-Ukrainian border in northern Kharkiv Oblast on the morning of May 10 and made tactically significant gains. Russian forces are likely conducting 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 materiel from other critical sectors of the front in eastern Ukraine.
• Russian forces will likely leverage their tactical foothold in northern Kharkiv Oblast in the coming days to intensify offensive operations and pursue the initial phase of an offensive effort likely intended to push back Ukrainian forces from the border with Belgorod Oblast and advance to within tube artillery range of Kharkiv City.
• The limited efforts that Russian forces are currently conducting do not suggest that Russian forces are immediately pursuing a large-scale sweeping offensive operation to envelop, encircle, and seize Kharkiv City, however.
• Russian offensive operations along the Kharkiv international border likely have the strategic objective of drawing and fixing Ukrainian forces to this axis to enable Russian advances in other areas of eastern Ukraine.
• ISW continues to assess that Russian forces will likely struggle to seize Kharkiv City should they aim to do so.
• Russian forces likely decided to launch offensive operations along the international border area to take the best advantage of the relatively brief time left before Western aid arrives at the Ukrainian frontline at scale.
• Ukrainian Ground Forces Commander Lieutenant General Oleksandr Pavlyuk stated that the war in Ukraine will enter a critical phase in the next two months and commented on recent Russian advances around Chasiv Yar and Avdiivka.
• US President Joe Biden approved up to $400 million worth of military assistance for Ukraine as part of the Presidential Drawdown Authority Fund on May 10.
• Ukrainian forces conducted a drone strike on the night of May 9 to 10 against an oil refinery in Kaluga Oblast that Ukrainian forces previously struck in March 2024.
• Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin is retaining his position in the Russian government for Russian President Vladimir Putin's new term of office, and there have been speculations but no confirmations of changes to Putin's cabinet.
• US Assistant Secretary of Defense for Space Policy John Plumb stated that US defense officials partnered with SpaceX to stop the Russian military's unauthorized use of Starlink internet terminals in frontline areas of Ukraine.
• Russian forces recently marginally advanced near Donetsk City and in the Donetsk-Zaporizhia Oblast border area.
• Russian and Belarusian authorities continue to illegally deport Ukrainian citizens, including children, to Russia and Belarus.

Americans are prepared to sacrifice Ukraine to ensure that Russia does not fall apart. The warning of one French author should be heeded and illusions about a deal with Russia abandoned.

Françoise Thom teaches Soviet history and international relations at the Sorbonne University in Paris, France. In September 2023 she wrote an article entitled “The Second Front.” The annotation reads as follows:

“According to historian Françoise Thom, Russia has not renounced its original plan to install a pro-Russian government in Kyiv. In pursuit of this goal, not only Ukrainian people are the target of an operation of psychological war, but decision-makers circles in Washington and European capitals are being infiltrated and manipulated. Convincing the Ukrainians that Western support for Ukraine is shaky, discouraging Ukrainians from fighting to victory is now a priority for the Kremlin.”