News And Information From Ukraine

Dispatches from Ukraine. Day 1,171.

Russia’s Attacks on Ukraine

Kyiv. Early on May 7, Russia launched a ballistic missile and drone strike on Ukraine’s capital, killing two civilians and wounding five others, including four children.

Donetsk region. Russian artillery shelled Mirnograd, wounding seven people, while airstrikes on Ilyinivka killed a woman on May 7.

Kherson region. Russian drones struck the village of Poniativka in southern Ukraine on May 8, killing a 35-year-old woman.

Kharkiv region. In this eastern district, two men were killed and another wounded on May 7 by the detonation of a Russian POM-2 mine laid during the occupation.

Parade in Moscow Eases Putin’s Isolation
Russia’s annual Victory Day parade in Moscow took place on May 9 amid escalating Ukrainian drone strikes. On May 7, Russia’s Defense Ministry reported downing 524 Ukrainian drones, one of the highest single-day totals claimed since the onset of the war. Despite a unilateral three-day ceasefire declared by Russia beginning May 8, Ukraine has rejected it as a sham. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has warned that Kyiv can’t guarantee the safety of foreign leaders in Moscow on May 9.

The parade, which takes place annually in Red Square, the heart of the Russian capital, commemorates the Soviet Union’s role in World War II and remains central to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s propaganda, which frames Ukraine as a historic part of Russia and a battleground against so-called “Nazis.”

Brazil’s President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, the Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, Serbia’s President Aleksandar Vucic, Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro and Mahmoud Abbas, the President of the Palestinian Authority, Robert Fico, the Prime Minister of Slovakia (a member state of the European Union) were all in attendance. Among the most high-profile guests is Chinese leader Xi Jinping, who is making his second visit to Russia since beginning his third term as president of China in 2022.

Ukraine Announces New Offensive in Kursk

Although Ukraine recently withdrew its last troops in Russia’s Kursk region after losing all ground captured there since its incursion last August, it has announced a new cross-border attack not far from the original invasion point. While Ukraine says that it has inflicted heavy losses on Russian forces, including North Korean troops, Russia contends that it has repelled the attack. In the offensive, possibly timed to coincide with Russia’s Victory Day celebrations, Ukrainian soldiers reportedly have blown up bridges, factories and administrative buildings.

Oil Glut Rattles Russian Economic Stability

In a partial reversal of earlier production cuts, OPEC+ has decided to increase oil production, potentially bringing 2.2 million barrels per day back to the market by November, 2025. The announcement pushed oil prices to their lowest in four years, below $60 per barrel for global benchmarks, which now hover around that price level.

Russian oil prices have mirrored the decline, causing Russia’s oil revenues to plunge to a two-year low. In April, the average price of ESPO crude, a Russian benchmark shipped from the Far Eastern port of Kozmino, fell below $60 per barrel for the first time since January, 2021, dropping to $59. Prices for Urals crude, Russia’s most popular benchmark, averaged $53-54 per barrel last month.

Declining oil revenues have prompted Russia’s Ministry of Finance to revise its federal budget and cut oil and gas revenue forecasts by $30 billion. The revision slashed the oil price forecast from $70 to $56 per barrel, while the projected budget deficit ballooned to $45 billion, from 0.5% to 1.7% of GDP. Russia’s budget shortfall now equals the size of its dwindling liquid reserves in the National Wealth Fund, which have shrunk by two-thirds since 2022, leaving only about $40 billion after previous withdrawals.

The combination of declining oil revenues and a record-high key interest rate, set by Russia’s Central Bank in an attempt to curb 10% inflation, is placing significant strain on the economy. Russia’s civilian industrial sector might soon enter a recession, with output falling by an average of 0.8% per month in the first quarter of 2025. Overall, Russian GDP contracted by 0.3% for the first time since 2022. Exacerbated by shrinking oil and gas revenues, Russia’s economy is undergoing a deeper structural transformation, with future economic growth likely to concentrate in defense-related sectors.

Russia is expanding its military explosives production amid efforts to bolster its war capabilities in Ukraine. According to satellite images and internal documents reviewed by Reuters, a facility at the Biysk Oleum Plant in Siberia, approximately 1,850 miles east of Moscow, will produce up to 6,000 metric tons of explosives annually, likely including RDX, a stable explosive integral to modern artillery, drone and missile production.
The development aligns with Russia’s attempt to address munitions shortages that have resulted in the need for extensive imports, including an estimated 2.7 million artillery shells from North Korea in 2024. Russia itself manufactured about 2 million shells last year but its reserves are depleting, according to U.S. and Ukrainian intelligence. Ukrainian President Zelenskyy previously has stated that Kyiv hopes to receive 3 million artillery shells from its allies this year.

In Washington, D.C., Ukraine’s philanthropist and businessman Victor Pinchuk received the Atlantic Council’s Distinguished Humanitarian Leadership Award, known as “Oscars of Washington”. Pinchuk was honored for his significant contributions to humanitarian efforts, particularly support for Ukrainian military service members, veterans, and civilians suffering from war, and for his efforts in public diplomacy.

Culture Front.

An interactive film project titled Repeat After Me invites the audience to participate by imitating the sounds of war, including missiles, explosions, drones, and air raid sirens. The show is created by the Ukrainian collective Open Group (Yuriy Biley, Pavlo Kovach, Anton Varga) and was initially presented at the Venice Biennale by Poland pavilion. It is on view from may 9 through June 22 at 601 Artspace, 88 Eldridge Street in New York.

A staged reading of Cassandra — the iconic poem by Ukrainian literary legend Lesia Ukrainka — takes place in the Ukrainian Institute of America in New York on Friday, May 9. The performance is directed by Artemis Wheelock and produced by Illia George and Kaitlin Rowan. A full theatrical performance of Cassandra has been planned for autumn 2025.

Violence, Beauty, and Resistance: Draper and Robertson vs. Societal Decay—a Satellite Collective art show exploring the power of the Molotov Cocktails and the impact of inherited violence in the context of today’s fractured world—opens at Mriya gallery in New York. The artwork and timely topics can resonate with both global and American audiences. On view May 8 – 18, Mriya Gallery, 101 Read St, New York

By Danylo Nosov, Alan Sacks