Key military updates. In Donbas, Russian troops try to advance toward Bakhmut and Lyman, the General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces said in an evening report on May 25. Russian forces aim to take full control over Donetsk and Luhansk regions, particularly on the Bakhmut axis. They prepare to advance toward Novopavlivske and on the Zaporizhzhia axis.
Tense situation in Severodonetsk. The situation is most tense in Severodonetsk. “[Russian troops] continuously destroy the city,” head of the Luhansk regional military administration Serhiy Hayday said. Russians storm the city on three sides. Fighting rages on the outskirts of Severodonetsk.
The city has been under Russia’s artillery and air strikes. Russians are now at the range of a mortar, Hayday said. About 15,000 civilians remain in the city, about 10 per cent of its pre-war population.
The Kremlin deployed the most troops and materiel to Luhansk region to break Ukrainian defense, the head of the regional administration said. Ukrainian troops need to hold out a few more days to exhaust Russia’s offensive potential, he added.
“If Russians do not succeed by the end of the week, they will lose momentum, and the situation will stabilize for us,” Hayday said. The situation continues to deteriorate.
Russia pillages captured Mariupol. Satellite images by Planet Labs recorded ships in Mariupol that Russians may use to steal metal and grain, Ukrainian journalists of “Skhemy” (Schemes) program said. Images show cargo vessels in the port of Mariupol.
Since Russia began an all-out invasion of Ukraine, six cargo ships flying foreign flags remain in waters of the port, administration of the Mariupol port said.
Forced passportization: Russian passports issued to residents of Kherson, Zaporizhzhia regions, and Mariupol. Putin signed the order establishing a simplified procedure for residents of Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions to obtain Russian passports. The order amends the document Russia issued in April 2019 to simplify the procedure for residents of the so-called “DNR” and “LNR”. The amendments took effect.
“Today, the so-called ‘DNR’ greenlighted issuing of Russian passports to residents of Mariupol and the recently occupied territory of Donetsk region without the mandatory ‘DNR’ passport. De facto annexation of Mariupol has begun,” advisor to the mayor of Mariupol Petro Andryushchenko.
Ukraine in Flames #76: Ethnic minorities challenged by the Russian war against Ukraine
Russian invaders are cynically and deliberately destroying the civilizational heritage of Ukraine, which is to be a homeland for a plethora of ethnic communities that are developing in close contact with the Ukrainian mainstream and adding fullness and wisdom to Ukrainian society. Ukraine in Flames #76 shows how Ukraine’s ethnic minority groups suffer from the Russian invasion and how they are contributing to the Ukrainian victory.
Speakers:
Behan Behrad, student of Medical Faculty of Karazin National University, Kharkiv
Vage Mamikonyan, Chairman of the Kramatorsk Armenian Community named after V. Mailyan
Moshe Reuven Azman, Chief Rabbi of Ukraine
