Russian forces conduct air and artillery strikes on Kherson and a number of villages in Kherson region. Ukraine to take Crimea without a fight, Ukraine\u2019s Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov says. Receiving F-16 fighters depends on the outcome of Ukraine\u2019s counteroffensive, according to the Ukrainian Foreign Minister.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On May 2, Russian forces conducted air and artillery strikes on Kherson and a number of villages in Kherson region, killing three people and injuring five others. The villages that came under attack are Kizomys and Veletenske in the Bilozerska hromada (territorial community), head of the Kherson regional military administration Oleksandr Prokudin said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
A 28-year-old man was killed, and four more people were injured in Veletenske. The wounded were taken to hospital in Kherson, where they are being treated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
According to a later update from the office of the Kherson regional prosecutor, the death toll from Russian strikes on Kherson and the Bilozerska hromada rose to three, and the number of injured had reached five.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The strikes damaged civilian infrastructure, including private houses, agricultural facilities, and vehicles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Russia needs to be cut off from Crimea, to make sure that it retreats from the peninsula, representative of the Main Intelligence Department of Ukraine\u2019s Defense Ministry Andriy Chernyak said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe enemy must be cut off from Crimea, to make sure that Russia cannot use the temporarily occupied peninsula for military purposes and, finally, implement the so-called \u2018Crimean goodwill gesture,\u2019\u201d Chernyak said, implying Russia\u2019s retreat. \u201cAchieving the goal can be key to a just peace,\u201d he added. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ukraine continues to work toward the goal, the defense intelligence representative said, quoting recent developments on the peninsula. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cKilometer-long traffic jams on the illegally built bridge from Kerch to Russia is the right reaction. The Main Intelligence Department of the Ukrainian Defense Ministry strongly recommends leaving the occupied Crimea while this option is still available. Ukraine is coming back and will come back to Crimea,\u201d Chernyak said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ukraine will take Crimea without a fight, Ukraine\u2019s Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov told The Atlantic. Ukraine talks about the \u201cpolitical military\u201d liberation of Crimea, not a purely military counteroffensive, the article reads.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Crimea is being built into a fortress. Once they [Ukraine] have cut off the roads, railroads, and waterways to the peninsula, and targeted the military infrastructure with drones, the presumption is that many Russian inhabitants, especially recent immigrants, will become convinced that they would be better off living somewhere else. \u201cCrimea we will take without a fight,\u201d Reznikov said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said on Ukraine\u2019s 1+1 television channel that he believed that receiving F-16 fighters would depend on the outcome of a Ukrainian counteroffensive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Kuleba is convinced that sooner or later Ukraine\u2019s western allies will decide on sending F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine, as they earlier did on other types of weapons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
F-16s are one of Ukraine\u2019s top three priorities, alongside artillery rounds and armored vehicles, he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIf Ukraine had already been given F-16s, the counteroffensive would have been launched much faster and it would have been possible to save the lives of more Ukrainian soldiers, as well as civilians, as Russian missile strikes continue,\u201d Ukraine\u2019s Foreign Affairs Minister said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n