Southfront.org: https://southfront.org/war-in-ukraine-day-69-steady-offensive-of-allied-troops/
On May 3, 2022, the situation in Ukraine did not change significantly. However, there are noticeable successes in the advance of Russian and LDPR military forces in some areas.
Northern direction:
The Russian Armed Forces conducted retaliatory strikes against Ukrainian military facilities in the Sumy region. These actions were revenge for the sabotage of late April and early May.
In the Kharkiv direction, an attempt by the Ukrainian military to push the front line further north and east of Kharkiv ended in failure: Russian forces repulsed attacks by the AFU, and carried out their own artillery and air strikes. The Russian Armed Forces also foiled attempts by the AFU to destroy crossings in the vicinity of Izyum. Thus, the counterattack promised by Alexey Arestovich ended in failure.
Furthermore, in Kharkiv Region, Members of the Russian National Guard servicemen prevented an attack by Ukrainian militants on a convoy of Russian troops. They discovered a large cache of weapons and ammunition of a Ukrainian saboteur’s group in the Izyum region. Among other things, they found two Turkish, two Swedish and three American anti-tank grenade launchers. The cache also contained a large amount of combat gear and food supplies for several days.
Members of the Russian National Guard prevented a strike on a convoy of Russian troops.
Luhansk direction:
An offensive by the Russian Armed Forces and the LPR military forces to the south of Izyum continues. The main successes are in the area of Liman, Donetsk Region. Allied forces blocked the Ukrainian grouping in this area, forcing them to blow up the Seversky Donets River crossings. Thus, they actually sacrificed their lives and left themselves only one way to retreat along the road leading through Sviatogorsk, Donetsk Oblast, which is already practically under the control of Russian troops. With the defeat of the Liman garrison, the entire left bank of the Seversky Donets River will be cleared of the AFU. A large amount of military equipment was repulsed.
In the city of Popasna, Allied forces continue to mop up the southeastern districts of the city. Once this operation is completed, the Russian and LPR Armed Forces will be left to clear only the northwestern districts of the city. Then they will reach the boundaries of the Lisichansk-Severodonetsk agglomeration. The LPR People’s Militia released 20 hostages, civilians held in basements by Ukrainian radicals. The punishers used the people as human shields, and not only that, Lieutenant Colonel Andrei Marochko of the MN LNR told Donbass Resolves.
“Young people were used as slave labor: forced to build fortifications. Under the fear that close relatives would be shot, they were given weapons. Hostages were forcibly armed and forced to shoot. In this way the Ukrainian Nazis covered their escape.”
Donetsk direction:
Compared to the previous days of May, the fighting in the vicinity of Gorlovka has subsided. However, shelling of the city by the Ukrainian military continues. According to the Mayor of Horlivka, 39 shelling of the city’s territory has been recorded to date.
In the southern districts of Avdeevka, there is an intensive exchange of blows. The DPR units (including “Somali” detachment deployed to that area) are effectively fighting against the Ukrainian fortified areas. However, in response to the intense attacks by the Donetsk people, the Ukrainian forces are literally razing the outskirts of Yasinovataya, DPR.
Near Mariupol, a new UN and Red Cross convoy was formed under the protection of allied DPR and Russian forces. It includes 48 buses and several ambulances, as well as escort vehicles.
It is reported that the storming of Azovstal has begun. Russian Army and DPR forces began to destroy Azov’s firing positions after the militants came out of hiding, taking advantage of the silence regime.
Southern direction:
There is fierce fighting in the vicinity of Gulyaypole, Zaporizhzhia region, according to Ukrainian media. The Ukrainian Armed Forces in this direction have to repel attacks by the Crimean grouping of the Russian Armed Forces.
In the Odessa region, the bridge in Zatoka was hit for the 3rd time today. At this point, according to both the Russian and Ukrainian media, confirmed by military sources, the crossing has been permanently destroyed. Reconstruction will be complicated. There have also been strikes against military (AFU and territorial defense) positions concentrated in and around Odessa.
According to the Russian Defense Ministry, high-precision airborne missiles struck 38 military facilities in Ukraine overnight. Among them: four command posts, 30 strongholds, areas of concentration of manpower and Ukrainian military equipment, and three missile and artillery weapon depots in the areas of Pervomayskoye and Illichivka settlements (Donetsk region). They also destroyed an Osa AKM surface-to-air missile system and a battery of multiple rocket launchers near Arkhangelivka (Kharkiv region).
Russian air defenses destroyed three Bayraktar-TB2 unmanned aerial vehicles near Snake Island. Four Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles were also shot down in the areas of Chervony Oskol and Nevskoye (Kharkiv region), as well as Veseloye (Donetsk People’s Republic). In addition, five Smerch rockets were intercepted in the districts of Izyum, Topolskoye and Malaya Kamyshevakha.
However, according to the command of the AFU, two Russian Raptor boats were destroyed by Bayraktar TB2 UAV strikes near Snake Island at dawn today.
Secretary of the National Security and Defence Council of Ukraine Danilov accused Hungary of attempting to annex Ukrainian territory
In a broadcast of the Ukrainian telethon, Danilov said that Hungary had been warned by Moscow about an attack on Ukraine and was planning to annex part of Ukrainian territory.
“Hungary was warned by Putin that there would be an attack on our country. You saw her position. She thought she could take some of the territory away. Well, we’ll see what the consequences will be for this country,” Danilov said.
According to the Pentagon, the U.S. has sent 14 planes with military aid to Ukraine in 24 hours, and another 23 flights were made by five other countries. Moreover, there were announced deliveries of another 5,000 Javelin anti-tank missiles to Ukraine
Thus, the allied forces continue a steady offensive in several directions. Moreover, as of today it is clearly visible that the AFU grouping in Donbass is gradually falling into encirclement. At the same time, Kyiv is sending more and more forces to the blockaded areas. Kyiv’s concept, imposed by Western countries, of conducting a war “to the last Ukrainian” continues to be enforced. The increase in arms deliveries is a consequence of this.
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Here is ZeroHedge reporting on the intensified strikes on NATO weapons deliveries into western Ukraine.
Barrage Of Cruise Missiles Rock Western Ukraine, Plunging Lviv Into Darkness
BY TYLER DURDEN
TUESDAY, MAY 03, 2022 – 03:44 PM
On Tuesday multiple media correspondents reporting from the western Ukrainian city of Lviv said they heard several large blasts in the evening hours. It has since emerged that railway power substations are coming under attack, after the Kremlin last week indicated its military would ramp up efforts to thwart Western arms deliveries into Ukraine.
Ukrainian Railways has announced Tuesday night that a number of trains are delayed after the blasts. “In particular, trains have been detained at the entrance to Lviv, information is being updated,” a statement from the rail authority quoted by CNN said. The attacks, which are being called the biggest cruise missile strikes on Lviv and perhaps across Ukraine since the war’s start, have knocked out power and internet to parts of the city. Vital power and train stations have also been hit in other key areas of the country Tuesday night (local time).
Traffic throughout the city also came to a halt, correspondents on the ground noted. Largescale strikes on Lviv have been a rarity throughout Russia’s over 2-month long invasion, given the major Western city’s distance from the frontlines of fighting, which remains in Donbas as well as to the south.
Whole sections of the city are also without power:
Lviv Mayor Andrii Sadovyi said that parts of the city are without power. Sadovyi also said that “as a result of the missile strikes, two power substations were damaged.”
Explosions were reported in multiple locations across the city, including in positions south, east and west.
It’s believed though unconfirmed that at least five cruise missiles slammed into Lviv – and there were many more across other parts of the country.
CNN correspondents are reporting:
Blasts heard in Lviv, Ukraine, coming from east, south and west of the city center. One site is close to the city center. From another, a huge plume of black smoke can be seen billowing across sky. All the lights across city appear to be out.
The Monday prior, Russian forces attacked at least six railway stations and facilities, some of them also near Lviv.
Ukraine’s military command previously commented that targeting rails has been part of ongoing Russian efforts to completely disable the country’s military transport infrastructure, specifically with an eye on foreign arms transfers as what the Kremlin previously dubbed “legitimate targets”. Kiev and the UN have also condemned attacks on civilians and vital civilian transport at a time of unprecedented numbers of internally displaced war refugees.
A Ukrainian military statement published last week alerted the public that the Russians “are trying to destroy the supply routes of military-technical assistance from partner states. To do this, they focus strikes on railway junctions.
And further attacks on railway and power infrastructure are being reported into the Tuesday night hours in various parts of the country.
A number of cities continue to be on high alert as the Russian military is apparently increasing its targeting of power and transport infrastructure sites.
Econophysics2020 