Evacuations were under way as Russian occupying forces braced for Ukraine’s expected counteroffensive in the south and southeast. Kyiv’s defence minister told The Washington Post that Russia has at least 300,000 troops inside Ukrainian territory and 500,000 focused on the war effort as a whole. The UN’s nuclear watchdog has warned of “increasingly unpredictable” conditions around the largest European atomic power plant. 

Six Ukrainian emergency workers were killed on Saturday in a Russian attack while they were clearing mines in the Kherson region, according to emergency services. 

Key developments

• Binance faces US probe of possible Russian sanctions violations
• Russian pro-war novelist Zakhar Prilepin injured in car bombing
• Ukraine says it shot down Russian Kinzhal missile for first time
• Russia’s next standoff with the West is in the oil-rich Arctic

Russia has 300,000 troops inside Ukrainian territory – Kyiv’s defence chief  

Some 500,000 Russian troops were currently focused on the war against Ukraine, with at least 300,000 actually inside Ukrainian territory, Ukraine’s defence minister told The Washington Post. 

In an interview with the newspaper, Oleksii Reznikov warned that Ukraine’s pending counteroffensive was being overestimated, and cited the Russian troop numbers as one of the reasons. “Most people are… waiting for something huge,” he said. 

Ukraine’s “first assault formation” was more than 90% prepared to begin an assault but some designated troops were still finishing training programmes abroad, Reznikov added. 

Zelensky chief of staff speaks with US national security adviser  

Andriy Yermak spoke with the White House’s Jake Sullivan “as part of the ongoing dialogue with international partners”, President Volodymyr Zelensky’s chief of staff said on Twitter. 

The pair discussed the current situation at the front line and preparations for Ukraine’s upcoming effort to retake occupied territories, Yermak said.  

Wagner chief says Russia pledges more ammunition 

Russia’s Defence Ministry issued an order promising to “give us as much ammunition and weapons as we need” to continue fighting in the eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut, Wagner mercenary group founder Yevgeny Prigozhin said in an audio message on his Telegram channel.  

The comments came after Prigozhin on Friday threatened, in a graphic, expletive-laden video, to pull Wagner troops out of Bakhmut on May 10, accusing the ministry of failing to supply them with sufficient ammunition. 

Prigozhin has repeatedly levelled such accusations during months of intense fighting between Wagner and Ukraine’s military for control of Bakhmut. He said on Sunday the ministry made Sergei Surovikin, a deputy to the head of the army and a top general who formerly led Russian operations in Ukraine, responsible for coordinating military actions with Wagner.    

Russia ramps up evacuations in occupied regions 

Russian officials in occupied regions of southeast Ukraine were stepping up the pace of civilian evacuations ahead of an expected Ukrainian counteroffensive. Priority was being given to the holders of Russian passports. Civilians were being evacuated from Enerhodar in the Zaporizhzhia region and the regions of Berdyansk and Prymorsk on the Azov Sea coast, the Ukrainian army’s general staff said on Facebook. 

The first wave of evacuations started on Saturday morning Enerhodar Mayor Dmytro Orlov said on Telegram. Equipment was also removed for certain buildings, including hospitals, by the occupying administration. 

The mayor of occupied Melitopol in the Zaporizhzhia region, Ivan Fedorov, said on Telegram that civilians and Russian military were on buses en route to Berdyansk. Locals in the Zaporizhzhia region were trying to stock up on food, and some hospitals were being closed.

IAEA calls situation at atomic plant unpredictable, dangerous  

Rafael Mariano Grossi, head of the UN’s International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), called the situation around the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in southeastern Ukraine “increasingly unpredictable and potentially dangerous”  

The IAEA said its staff at the facility had advised them that residents were being evacuated from the nearby town of Enerhodar, where most live, according to the agency’s website. The agency’s staff on-site at the plant haven’t been able to visit Enerhodar in recent days.

The agency also cited site director Yuri Chernichuk’s assurance that operating staff were not being evacuated and that the facility was being maintained in line with nuclear safety regulations. All six reactors at Zaporizhzhia were in shutdown mode.  

Russian pro-war writer ‘stable’ after bomb blast  

Zakhar Prilepin was conscious and in a stable condition after being brought out of a medical coma following Saturday’s car bombing, Nizhny Novgorod Governor Gleb Nikitin said on his Telegram channel. 

The Russian writer and politician, a vocal supporter of the invasion of Ukraine, was injured and his driver killed when an explosive device detonated under their car on Saturday, the Tass news service reported citing emergency services.  

The incident followed the bombing deaths of pro-war blogger Maxim Fomin, or Vladlen Tatarsky, in a St Petersburg cafe in April, and Darya Dugina, daughter of a prominent Russian nationalist, in August. Dugina was also killed by a car bomb.

Six killed while demining around Kherson 

Six state emergency workers were killed and two injured by Russian fire while demining on Saturday, the emergency service said.  

“Our explosives experts were shelled while out clearing an area in the Kherson region from mines,” said Serhii Kruk, head of the service.  

Russian missile barrage slams Mykolayiv region 

Air-raid alerts sounded widely for several hours across most of Ukraine late on Saturday night and early on Sunday. The Mykolayiv region was attacked by five Russian Kha-22 long-range missiles launched from a Tu-22M3 fighter jet, regional governor Vitaliy Kim said on Telegram. An industrial plant was damaged but no casualties were reported.

Explosions were also reported in the Zaporizhzhia region, along with shelling around the city of Kherson and elsewhere. 

A Russian reconnaissance drone was downed on Saturday in the Kyiv region, Serhiy Popko, the head of the city’s administration, said on Telegram.

Russian Su-35 jet provokes Polish plane, says Romania  

A Russian Sukhoi Su-35 fighter jet repeatedly conducted dangerous manoeuvres around a Polish Border Guard plane over the Black Sea in international waters, causing turbulence that led to “major difficulties” in controlling the unarmed aircraft, according to Romania’s defence ministry.

The May 5 incident “is further evidence of the provocative approach of the Russian Federation in the Black Sea”, the ministry said in a statement. It called the Russian plane’s actions “totally unacceptable”.

The Polish two-engine turboprop was on a patrol for Frontex, the European Union’s border and coast guard agency, in cooperation with Romanian police. The crew landed it safely at a Romanian air base. No injuries were reported. DM