Day 68 of Putin's war. Russia continues shelling of grain warehouses, fires a missile on Odesa
1957: A Russian missile struck Odesa. There are casualties, local governor Maksym Marchenko has reported in a Telegram statement.
"Those scum act like ordinary terrorists, and we have one conversation with terrorists. We will destroy them until no living occupier remains on Ukrainian soil!" Marchenko said.
Earlier, Natalia Humeniuk, Operational Command "South" press officer said that the Russian occupiers fired a missile at the city infrastructure of Odesa on the evening of May 2. A religious building has been damaged.
1831: Russians shelled Kharkiv more than five times during the day, Kharkiv governor Oleh Synehubov has reported.
"Today the occupiers fired 5 artillery shells at Kharkiv. Saltivka and HTZ were affected," Synehubov wrote. "Bohodukhiv, Zolochiv, Mala Danylivka, and Chuhuiv were shelled in the region. Unfortunately, 3 people were killed and 8 civilians were injured."
Fighting continues in the Izyum region. The enemy is trying to conduct offensive operations in the direction of Barvinkove. But the Armed Forces hold positions, so attempts to attack the occupiers are unsuccessful.
"The Russian occupiers are demoralized and refuse to go to war. The number of shellings has decreased, but please do not lose vigilance," Synehubov said.
1756: Russians shelled the bridge over the Dniester estuary in Odesa Oblast for the third time, Odesa Oblast Council spokesman Serhiy Bratchuk has reported.
According to him, the Russians launched three rockets on the bridge that was already closed after the previous attacks.
The details about the scale of damage to the bridge are still being clarified.
1729: Russian invaders have shelled a grain warehouse in Rubizhne, a town in Luhansk Oblast, Ukraine's Humans Rights Ombudswoman Lyudmila Denisova said in a Facebook post.
"Russian occupation forces are deliberately taking measures to cause a famine in Ukraine," she wrote.
According to Denisova, satellite images of Planet Lab were found, which show that powerful Russian bombs were dropped on the territory of Golden AGRO LLC in Rubezhnoye. The elevator complex that opened in 2020 was completely destroyed.
1610: Russians launched a total informational blockade in Mariupol, Petro Andriushchenko, an advisor to the mayor of Mariupol has reported.
"The occupiers tightly shut down all information flows to the city and beyond. You may be surprised, but Mariupol residents in the city are now convinced that Russian soldiers are marching along Khreshchatyk,” he wrote in the Telegram.
"They also believe Kharkiv is under Russian control and every man from Mariupol is sent to the front when he leaves," Andriushchenko added.
1431: Ukrainian forces destroyed two Russian armored boats "Raptor" near the Zmiiny Island in the Black Sea in the morning on May 2, Ukrainian Army Commander in Chief Valery Zaluzhy has reported.
Zaluzhny has also published a video showing a Ukrainian Bayraktar drone destroying a Russian vessel.
1252: Russia has already lost 23,800 soldiers killed in action in Ukraine since the start of the full-scale invasion in February, Ukraine's General Staff has reported.
Meanwhile, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said in an interview with Italian media that Russia does not demand that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky surrender but that he "order Ukrainians to stop resistance."
During the first two days of the evacuation from Azovstal, the last Ukrainian stronghold in Russian-occupied Mariupol, the UN and the ICRC has helped the Ukrainian government to rescue more than 100 women, children, and elderly from the factory.
However, yesterday night, Russia resumed shelling of the plant, despite an agreed upon ceasefire. Ukraine aims to continue the evacuation today.
There are still some 2,000 Ukrainian soldiers in Azostal, with approximately 600 wounded. The Ukrainian defenders have expressed hope that they will also be evacuated following the evacuations of all civilians from the plant.
"The humanitarian operation in Mariupol will continue until we save all our citizens," Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said in a statement.
A long curfew has been imposed in Odesa. It started at 2200 on May 1 and will last until 0500 on May 3. People are not allowed out unless they are going to shelters. The authorities imposed this curfew to circumvent pro-Russian provocations that may occur today, May 2, the anniversary of the Odesa Trade Unions House tragedy.
In 2014, some 48 people died and more than 200 were wounded after clashes between pro-Russian and pro-Ukrainian activists ended up with a fire in at the Trade Unions House building, which had been serving as a camp for the pro-Russian supporters.
Ukrainian law enforcement has investigated the matter for the past eight years, but have yet to release any results. Russian media and government sources, however, have already claimed that it was Ukrainian nationalists who were responsible for the blaze.
Early in the morning on May 2, Russians shelled Dnipropetrovsk Oblast several times. At about 0802 today, Russian troops launched a missile strike on the Synelnykivskyi district of Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, destroying a grain warehouse, said Valentyn Reznichenko, head of the regional military administration.
"We have an 'arrival' again in the Synelnykiv district," Reznichenko wrote in a Telegram post on Monday morning, referring to a missile impact.
"The missile hit a (grain) elevator. Destroyed the warehouse with grain. No one has been injured."
Russia previously shelled farms and grain warehouses in the same district on May 1.
Russia has also stolen multiple tons of Ukrainian grains in Zaporizhzhya Oblast.
Russian invaders continue to attack Ukraine on all fronts. The Russian offense continues in Kharkiv Oblast near Izyum. Yesterday, Ukrainian media outlets reported that the Chief of the Russian General Staff Major General Valery Gerasimov has been wounded. Earlier, it was reported that Gerasimov was in Ukraine, overseeing operations in the Izyum front. However, the NYT said Gerasimov had managed to leave Izyum before the Ukrainians attacked and destroyed a command post there.
