Civilian sites hit in Russian attacks on Donetsk and Cherkasy regions, and the city of Sumy. France trains 10 Ukrainian pilots that will fly F-16s. Italy will sign a deal with Ukraine and UNESCO to rebuild Odesa.
Civilian sites hit in Russian attacks on Donetsk, Cherkasy regions, city of Sumy
Russian missile and artillery strikes on Donetsk region on Thursday killed at least four people and injured nine others, head of the regional military administration, Vadym Filashkin said.
The attacks resulted in deaths and injuries in Udachne, Kurakhivka, Ocheretyne, Krasnohorivka, and Hirnyk.
Filashkin said the central part of the region was under heavy fire since early morning. A missile strike on Udachne killed three people and injured four others. An administrative building, a culture venue, a coffee shop and around 20 private houses were affected.
One person was killed in Ocheretyne, four others were wounded in Krasnohorivka, and one more in Hirnyk.
Russia dropped a glide bomb on Sumy on Thursday, targeting the city’s critical infrastructure. An explosion was heard after an air raid alert was issued. The regional military administration said emergency services were responding to the attack and the impact of the strike was still being clarified.
A Russian missile strike on Smila, in Cherkasy region, in the early hours of Thursday morning injured six people. According to preliminary reports, Russia used an Iskander-K cruise missile in the attack, spokesperson for the Ukrainian Air Force Command, Major Illya Yevlash said on television. The strike damaged railway infrastructure, more than 70 private houses, an apartment building, education and healthcare facilities, and an industrial site.
“The blast wave from a strike on the Cherkasy district and missile debris damaged a critical infrastructure site,” the Cherkasy regional prosecutor’s office said.
France trains 10 Ukrainian pilots that will fly F-16s
France is training ten Ukrainian pilots ages 20 to 22. Six of them are still being trained in the UK where they are honing their English language skills, an important asset for NATO pilots, and learning basic aeronautics, according to French BMF TV.
The other four have sufficient language skills and some experience of piloting civilian planes or L-39 training aircraft of the Ukrainian Air Force. They are currently at an air base in south-western France where they get trained for aerial combat.
Ukrainian pilots will follow the same training program as their French colleagues, but will complete it in half the time. They will train on simulators, including Alpha Jets and will have to log 80 hours of flight time before beginning to train on the F-16.
After around six months of training, they will begin to fly F-16s in the U.S. or in one of the European countries that have them.
While Ukrainian pilots are trained in Europe, technical crews, including mechanics are likely trained in the U.S. Each aircraft requires a team of around ten people, including pilots. These crews will be ready by the end of the year or even early next year. This time will be also used to produce more weapons for aerial combat, BMF TV said.
Italy to sign deal with Ukraine, UNESCO to rebuild Odesa
Italy will sign an agreement with Ukraine and the United Nations’ cultural agency UNESCO to rebuild the city of Odesa and its cathedral which was badly damaged by a Russian attack, Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said on Wednesday, according to Reuters.
“On May 15 we will sign off on a deal with Kyiv and UNESCO here in Rome for the reconstruction of Odesa and its cathedral,” Tajani told a question time session in the lower house of parliament.
In February, Italy and UNESCO had already signed an agreement in Kyiv to provide 500 million euros ($534.45 million) towards the restoration of the roof of Odesa’s Spaso-Preobrazhenskyi, or Transfiguration Cathedral.
“As the G7 presidency, we continue to work for a just peace,” Tajani told lawmakers, adding that supporting Ukraine’s energy system was also a priority for Italy.
Anti-Ukrainian narratives pushed by the Kremlin as deflection tactics. Ukraine in Flames #603
In this episode of Ukraine in Flames, we discuss the Kremlin’s anti-Ukrainian narratives used as deflection tactics, exploring their dissemination through Ukrainian media and their impact on Western perceptions. Artem Bidenko and Taras Zhovtenko, experts in information security and democratic initiatives, shed light on how Russia exploits political events to escalate tensions and divert attention from international security concerns. We also discuss Russia’s success in influencing Western policies, exemplified by the prolonged freezing of U.S. aid to Ukraine. Watch UIF #603 to learn more about the most prevalent Russian-created narratives observed by Ukrainian experts in information warfare and how Russia is using them for its hybrid warfare operations.
Guests:
- Artem Bidenko, Executive Director of the Institute of Information Security.
- Taras Zhovtenko, acting executive director, security analyst at the Ilko Kucheriv Democratic Initiatives Foundation.