Key events
Here are some images coming to us over the wires.
Russian attacks across Ukraine have killed two people and injured 13 over the past day, regional authorities have said.
Civilian casualties in Dnipropetrovsk, Zaporizhzhia, Kharkiv, and Donetsk oblasts were reported.
Governor Serhiy Lysak said a Russian attack on Nikopol in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast killed a 62-year-old man and a 65-year-old woman and injured eight others, according to The Kyiv Independent.
⚡Russian attacks kill 2, injure 13 in Ukraine over past day.
Russian attacks across Ukraine killed two people and injured 13 over the past day, regional authorities said on May 10.https://t.co/7lK6SmucMb
— The Kyiv Independent (@KyivIndependent) May 10, 2024
Opening summary
Good morning and welcome to our live blog as the time passes 10am in Kyiv and Moscow.
This morning Vladimir Putin has reappointed Mikhail Mishustin as Russia’s prime minister with Associated Press reporting that the lower house of parliament, the State Duma, will hold a session later today to consider his candidacy. It writes that his approval is “a mere proforma in the Kremlin-controlled parliament”.
In line with Russian law, Mishustin, 58, who held the job for the past four years, submitted his Cabinet’s resignation on Tuesday when Putin began his fifth presidential term at a glittering Kremlin inauguration.
AP notes that his reappointment was “widely expected” and say Putin “values his skills and lack of political ambition. Mishustin, the former head of Russia’s tax service, has kept a low profile, steering clear of political statements and avoiding media interviews.”
Meanwhile Reuters says that there is no indication that Putin plans a big reshuffle of the government, which includes veteran Sergei Shoigu, in charge of Russia’s defence since 2012, and Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, in charge of Russia’s diplomacy for two decades. Analysts say that keeping his government intact would send a message of stability and of Putin’s satisfaction with his team’s progress at home and abroad, Reuters reports.
However, there has been upheaval in Kyiv where the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, last night dismissed the head of the department responsible for his personal protection on Thursday, two days after two of its members were accused of plotting to assassinate him. Zelenskiy issued a decree dismissing the head of the state guards, Serhiy Rud. No successor was identified.
In other news:
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Ukraine destroyed all 10 drones as Russia launched an overnight attack in the Kharkiv region, but two people were injured and residential buildings were consumed by fire as a result, Ukrainian officials said on Friday. The air force said in a statement on the Telegram messaging app that Russia also launched two anti-aircraft guided missiles.
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A Ukraine drone attack set an oil refinery in Russia’s Kaluga region on fire, RIA state news agency reported on Friday, citing emergency services sources.
Vladislav Shapsha, governor of the Kaluga region which borders the broader Moscow region, said on the Telegram messaging app that the fire was promptly extinguished. He did not say at what facility it took place. However, RIA reported that three containers with diesel fuel and one with fuel oil were consumed by the fire at the Pervyi Zavod refinery in Kaluga. -
A solitary, symbolic tank has featured in Russia’s annual 9 May military parade for the second year in a row as the country was forced to pare down its normal display of military might during a full-scale war in which it has suffered unprecedented losses over the last two years.
Russia has lost 479,710 troops, 7,434 tanks and 14,313 armoured personnel vehicles since the conflict began, according to the General Staff of the Armed forces of Ukraine.
It also reports that Russia losses include 16,691 vehicles and fuel tanks, 12,387 artillery systems, 1,062 multiple launch rocket systems, 349 airplanes, 325 helicopters, 9,826 drones and 26 ships and boats.
