Early on Wednesday, May 25, a number of cities in Ukraine have been hit by missiles as one has been intercepted by air-defence. On the Donbas battle raging in the east military analysts point to possible change of Russia’s strategy. Mothers of the sailors of sunken Moskva missile cruiser have been asked to recognise their sons died in accident, exiled Russian outlet Novaya Gazeta. Europe, Belarusian Nexta TV and Ukrainian Ukrinform report.
According to Ukrinform, Russian troop missiles hit a number of Ukrainian-controlled cities and settlements. Missiles fired at the city of Zaporizhzhia hit a shopping centre and private homes, killing at least one person and injuring three others.
The representatives of the Zaporizhzhia Regional Military Administration stated: «Today, May 25, 2022, at 05:13, Russian troops launched four cruise missiles at the city of Zaporizhzhia. One of them was shot down by our air defence. The other three attacked two neighborhoods of the city – they fired at civilian facilities in the Shevchenkivskyi district and a shopping center in the Oleksandrivskyi district.»
At least, 62 private building were damaged.
The General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces stated in its war update as of 06:00 on May 25 that the invaders has intensified the use of aircraft to support their ground offensive. Because of the perceived lack of stockpiles of high-precision missile weapons, the enemy is looking for other ways to destroy critical and military facilities in Ukraine.
In the Donetsk region, a missile strike on residential neighbourhoods and private buildings in the city Kramatorsk is reported. The city’s Mayor Oleksandr Honcharenko stated: «An anxious night in Kramatorsk. An air strike on residential neighbourhoods and private houses. There are no casualties».
The Ukrainian military has noted that the units of the Russian troops were preparing to resume an offensive in the Sloviansk direction. Kramatorsk is also in danger, because it is located at a distance of about 18 kilometres from Sloviansk.
Around 370,000 people currently remain in the government-controlled area of the Donetsk region, which is 22% of the number that was recorded before the Russian invasion of Ukraine began on February 24.
In the northern Sumy Region, a missile strike was registered against the village of Krasnopillia in the Sumy region, damaging houses and power lines.
«At about one o’clock at night, the enemy fired missiles at our Krasnopillia from Russian territory. The launch tentatively came from an aircraft that did not cross the state border,» the statement by Dmytro Zhyvytskyi, head of the Sumy Regional Military Administration, said.
Zhyvytskyi stated that around 20 houses and power lines in Krasnopillia were damaged and that half of the village was left without electricity.
Preliminary information showed that no one was killed in the air strike. In east-central Ukraine, missiles were also fired at the city of Kryvyi Rih.
Possible change in Donbas battle strategy
American military analysts of the Study of War stated that according to their analysis Russian troops could be changing their tactics in the Donbas battle. Russian forces have likely abandoned efforts to complete a single large encirclement of Ukrainian forces in eastern Ukraine and are instead attempting to secure smaller encirclements, which would allow them to make incremental gains, the think tank wrote on Twitter.
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— ISW (@TheStudyofWar) May 25, 2022
Mothers of Moskva sailors asked to agree to recognise sinking as accident
Novaya Gazeta. Europe reports that in Russia the Russian Defence Ministry, which is involved in waging war against the neighbouring country, has not revealed the truth about the fate of Moskva to the mothers of two conscripts, who had been one the ship as conscripts. The war ship was hit by Ukrainian missiles on April 14 with around 485 crew members aboard and around 54 have been saved. The Russian Defence Ministry has claimed that the ship experienced an accident at sea and that one sailor died, 27 were mission and 396 were rescued.
Novaya Gazeta. Europe quoted two mothers of Moskva sailors as saying that two mothers of missing conscripts, who served on the Moskva told Novaya Gazeta. Europe that they were asked to recognise that their sons «died as a result of an accident». They had refused to sign these documents and a number of the parents of other soldiers were planning to file a collective lawsuit against the Russian Defence Ministry.
Read the article here.
Finally, on the bright side, BNN offers to watch a video of the possibly most popular dog in Ukraine. It’s Patron, the mine hunting dog, who has received a state decoration for his service.
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— NEXTA (@nexta_tv) May 24, 2022