Russia increases the intensity of fighting despite its claims of readiness to cease fire, Ukraine’s top commander says. Ukraine drones strike a defense manufacturing facility in Russia’s Murom. Almost 90 per cent of Ukrainians do not trust Trump, a poll finds.
Russia increases intensity of fighting despite claims of readiness to cease fire, Ukraine’s top commander says
Russia has significantly increased the intensity of fighting across the front lines despite its claims of readiness to cease fire for the May holidays, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, General Oleksandr Syrskyi said on Telegram Wednesday as he was visiting frontline units in Donetsk region.
Russian forces are concentrating efforts in the Pokrovsk direction where they try to break through Ukrainian defense lines and get to the administrative border of the region of Dnipro, Syrskyi said.
Russia “throws new units into battle daily” while reporting on illusory “successes and victories,” he said, adding that Russian troops are taking losses and stepping back.
When visiting the brigades that are holding defensive positions in the Pokrovsk direction, Syrskyi said he had heard commanders’ reports and ordered that additional supplies of ammunition, drones, electronic warfare systems and troop reserves be sent to the units, particularly emphasizing unmanned aerial attack capabilities.
Head of the Center for Countering Disinformation at Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council, Lieutenant Andriy Kovalenko, said on Wednesday that Russia is stepping up assault operations along the front lines, bogging down talks of a ceasefire.
Ukraine drones strike defense manufacturing facility in Russia’s Murom
Ukraine’s Security Service attacked the Murom Instrument-Building Plant in Russia’s Vladimir region with drones overnight on Wednesday, a source in the agency told news outlet The New Voice of Ukraine. The factory is part of Russia’s war production machine, it said.
There were five explosions and a fire as the strike hit the factory’s two buildings.
The plant manufactures ammunition ignition devices and components for the Russian navy and military aviation. The facility was sanctioned by both the EU and Ukraine for its role in enabling Russia’s military aggression against Ukraine, the message reads.
“The Security Service of Ukraine continues to effectively work on legitimate military targets inside Russia,” the source said.
Almost 90 per cent of Ukrainians do not trust Trump, poll finds
Almost 90 per cent of Ukrainians do not trust U.S. President Donald Trump, a poll commissioned by Ukrainian think tank New Europe Center and conducted by Info Sapiens research agency in April found. The results were released as Trump marks his first 100 days in office of his second term.
Only 7.4 per cent of Ukrainians completely trust or mostly trust Trump, a sharp decrease from 44.6 per cent in November 2024. The share of Ukrainians distrusting Trump has nearly doubled, from 47.2 per cent in November to 89 per cent in April.
A Pew Research Center survey released in June 2024, found that only 16 per cent in France and 30 per cent in the UK had confidence in Trump’s handling of international affairs. Hungary had the most favorable view of Trump among the European nations surveyed, with 37 per cent of respondents expressing approval.
The survey was conducted by Info Sapiens research agency on behalf of New Europe Center in government-controlled Ukraine between April 10 and April 24 through computer-assisted telephone interviews (CATI) based on a random sample of mobile telephone numbers. The total sample consists of 1,000 Ukrainians ages 16 and older. The margin of error at the 95 percent confidence level does not exceed 3.1 percentage points.