Putin's War - May 16th Map Briefing.
Today there are unconfirmed but reliable reports that Ukrainian forces have crossed the Donets river near Kharkiv and taken up positions in 2 villages.
Russia captured a village near Lyman and Adiivka.
4th map shows recaptured land in yellow. pic.twitter.com/Su07hU8XD4

— Nathan Ruser (@Nrg8000) May 16, 2022

Well thats a pretty comprehensive result for more labels pic.twitter.com/0Wzy0vfsLS

— Nathan Ruser (@Nrg8000) May 17, 2022

NEW: Ukraine's prisoner exchange with Russia was "only way" to rescue the defenders Azovstal steel plant: Ukraine's Deputy Defense Minister

"Their efforts prevented about 20,000 [Russian troops] from being deployed [in Ukraine]" and encirclement of 🇺🇦 troops, said Hanna Maliar

— Jack Detsch (@JackDetsch) May 17, 2022

NEW: Ukraine's Deputy Defense Minister said 53 troops were evacuated from Azovstal steel plant in "grave" condition & 211 in "satisfactory" condition,

They are now being held captive by 🇷🇺. "The [rescue] operation will continue until [🇺🇦 troops] are back," said Hanna Maliar.

— Jack Detsch (@JackDetsch) May 17, 2022

No time for incrementalism. No time for an extended stalemate on the battlefield during which tens of thousands of Ukrainians (and Russians too, btw) will die needlessly. More and better weapons now. Greater and more effective sanctions now.

— Michael McFaul (@McFaul) May 16, 2022

If peace will come only on the heels of a military breakthrough, then the US must help Ukraine win on the battlefield. The risks of a Ukrainian loss are far greater & would entail irreversible damage to the world order, international law, security norms, & global stability.

— Alexander S. Vindman (@AVindman) May 12, 2022

Just incredible reporting here by @sommervilletv. https://t.co/neFESrOTyZ

— Michael Weiss 🌻🇺🇸🇮🇪 (@michaeldweiss) May 17, 2022

President @ZelenskyyUa: "A difficult day. But this day, like all others, is aimed at saving our country & our people. I want to emphasize that Ukraine needs Ukrainian heroes alive." The leader who values human life. 266 Ukrainian servicemen were evacuated from Azovstal as of now pic.twitter.com/XlO9usWo4W

— Hanna Liubakova (@HannaLiubakova) May 16, 2022

⚡️Reuters: At least 7 buses with Azovstal defenders leave steel plant on May 17.

The buses carrying Ukrainian soldiers were escorted by Russian forces, Reuters reported citing a witness. Some of the Ukrainian fighters transported did not appear to be wounded, the witness said.

— The Kyiv Independent (@KyivIndependent) May 17, 2022

⚡️Russian parliament will consider a ban on exchanging Azov POWs for captured Russian soldiers, Russian state-controlled RIA Novosti reported.

On May 26, the Russian Supreme Court will consider recognizing the Azov regiment as a terrorist organization.

— The Kyiv Independent (@KyivIndependent) May 17, 2022

⚡️Ombudsman: Russians hold over 3,000 Mariupol residents in ‘filtration prison.’

According to Lyudmyla Denisova, they are held in what used to be a penal colony in Olenivka village, Donetsk Oblast. Civilians are tortured with electric shocks before being brought to the colony.

— The Kyiv Independent (@KyivIndependent) May 17, 2022

⚡️Russian airstrike on Chernihiv Oblast kills at least 8 people, injures 12.

Suspilne media reported the casualties citing the State Emergency Services. Governor Viacheslav Chaus earlier said that the airstrike hit the Desna village, where a military training center is located.

— The Kyiv Independent (@KyivIndependent) May 17, 2022

Russian forces are trying to reopen the Port of Mariupol to establish shipping routes from Russia. The Donetsk People’s Republic claimed that proxy militia will demine the port by May 25.

— ISW (@TheStudyofWar) May 17, 2022

In the 1930s, up to 5 million Ukrainians were killed as Soviet authorities weaponised agriculture and crops in a deliberate genocide. Nearly 100 years later and Russian occupation forces have destroyed much of Ukraine's agricultural heritage & insurance specimens once again. https://t.co/eA8Qw2qi5Q

— Nathan Ruser (@Nrg8000) May 17, 2022

Incredible 360-degree panoramas showing the destruction of Russia's war around Kyiv have been produced by Kyiv's Tourism department, which has created the Virtual Museum of War Memory. Here are photos from Hostomel Airport, Bucha and Irpin. See more here https://t.co/1OGQeRLwbs pic.twitter.com/kpYf4laOoT

— Nathan Ruser (@Nrg8000) May 17, 2022

The @AP and @frontlinepbs have verified that Russia has destroyed or damaged at least 57 Ukrainian schools in a manner that indicates a possible war crime.

But the destruction of schools is about more than toppling buildings and maiming bodies. https://t.co/r3sAmMSEJe

— The Associated Press (@AP) May 17, 2022

A fascinating and sober analysis by an on-air Russian military expert of the strategic disaster facing Putin. Putin’s rash decisions have put Russia in a position of grave peril. https://t.co/Xb9DxX7vtA

— Barry R McCaffrey (@mccaffreyr3) May 16, 2022

#Russia is a state in which homophobia is a state policy enshrined in the law on the "prohibition of the propaganda of homosexualizm".
Russia is a state in which members of the #LGBTQ community are killed and blackmailed.
This is also happening in the Russian-occupied territories

— Inna Sovsun (@InnaSovsun) May 17, 2022

#Ukraine is still far from fully protecting the LGBTQ community. But we're trying & progressing. #Russia is fully opposed.
This is one of the reasons why we'll fight to the end & not give 🇷🇺 a single piece of land.
Because we won't Ukrainian live in totalitarian homophobic state

— Inna Sovsun (@InnaSovsun) May 17, 2022

Rapid fire, rapid reactions. https://t.co/mjOi8kDntE

— Euan MacDonald (@Euan_MacDonald) May 17, 2022

Putin's War -- The Ukraine Briefing for May 9th
THREAD
- Russian troops have withdrawn from several villages around Kharkiv, and now only control a small strip near the Border, West of the Donets River.
- Ukrainian recon and saboteur units are harassing Russian forces near Izyum. pic.twitter.com/oDWcErfS5I

— Nathan Ruser (@Nrg8000) May 9, 2022

Southern Axis Update:#Russian forces did not conduct any confirmed offensive operations in southern #Ukraine on May 9 but continued to shell and launch missile strikes to pin Ukrainian troops and prevent them from transferring to other axes.https://t.co/FPSZMMPfnL pic.twitter.com/4wsGHMN1Kw

— ISW (@TheStudyofWar) May 10, 2022

#Kharkiv Update:#Russian forces are likely continuing to amass troops in #Belgorod Oblast to stop #Ukrainian counterattacks around Kharkiv City from reaching the Ukrainian-Russian border.https://t.co/FPSZMMPfnL pic.twitter.com/h2YBFEGci2

— ISW (@TheStudyofWar) May 10, 2022

- Russian authorities are likely setting conditions to integrate occupied Ukrainian territories directly into Russia, as opposed to creating proxy “People’s Republics.” pic.twitter.com/p8G5RZsmYz

— ISW (@TheStudyofWar) May 10, 2022

⚡️Governor: More than 100 civilians remain at Azovstal plant in Mariupol.

Donetsk Oblast Governor Pavlo Kyrylenko also said that up to 100,000 people still remain in the whole of Mariupol, a quarter of the pre-war figure.

— The Kyiv Independent (@KyivIndependent) May 9, 2022

At least 100 civilians still in Ukrainian city of Mariupol's steel works - mayor's aide https://t.co/Vk6ND22swS pic.twitter.com/RxxHQMSJVj

— Reuters (@Reuters) May 10, 2022

The Azovstal fortress pic.twitter.com/G9zrnm7qjp

— Illia Ponomarenko 🇺🇦 (@IAPonomarenko) May 10, 2022

Alisa, age 4, arrived in Zaporizhia, #Ukraine alone on an evacuation bus from Mariupol.

She and her mother Viktoria Obidina, a military medic, were evacuated from Azovstal. But #Russia-backed militants detained Viktoria along the way. She's now likely in a "filtration camp." pic.twitter.com/xNOmH646HM

— Matthew Kupfer (@Matthew_Kupfer) May 10, 2022

NEW: Russia has forcibly relocated nearly 1.2 million Ukrainians to Russia since the full-scale invasion on Feb 24: Ukrainian official

Commissioner for Human Rights of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, Lyudmyla Denisova said that 200,000 Ukrainian children were also sent to 🇷🇺

— Jack Detsch (@JackDetsch) May 9, 2022

“Don’t humiliate” Putin over Bucha and Irpin. “Don’t humiliate” him over wiped down Mariupol, mobile crematoriums and filtration camps. “Don’t humiliate” Putin over mass graves, raped women and kids and extrajudicial killings. Is ICC considered a humiliation exactly? https://t.co/Mci9sCMc9G

— Myroslava Petsa (@myroslavapetsa) May 9, 2022

⚡️China's Xi agrees with Macron on urgency of ceasefire in Ukraine.

Chinese leader Xi Jinping “agreed on the urgency of a ceasefire” in Ukraine during a call with his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron, the Élysée Palace said in a statement.

— The Kyiv Independent (@KyivIndependent) May 10, 2022

⚡️ 'It's not a morgue, it's a dump,' Russian soldier says in intercepted phone call.

Ukraine's Security Service published a recording of an intercepted phone call from a soldier fighting for Russians to his wife.

— The Kyiv Independent (@KyivIndependent) May 10, 2022

The soldier is heard saying that Russians are writing their soldiers off as "missing" to hide the high number of the dead.

He said that there was a "dump" of dead soldiers' bodies near Donetsk with piles that are two meters high.

— The Kyiv Independent (@KyivIndependent) May 10, 2022

⚡️ Lithuania recognizes Russia's war against Ukraine as genocide, Russia as terrorist state.

The Lithuanian parliament voted unanimously on a resolution stating that Russia's intent is to wholly or partially destroy the Ukrainian nation.

— The Kyiv Independent (@KyivIndependent) May 10, 2022

⚡️ Kharkiv Oblast governor: 44 bodies found under rubble of five-story building in occupied Izium.

Governor Oleh Synyehubov said that the building was destroyed in a Russian attack in early March.

— The Kyiv Independent (@KyivIndependent) May 10, 2022

"This is Katia from #Mariupol, who escaped and walked 15 km being eight month pregnant. She gave birth to a son". Happy birthday baby, I wish you a fast victory of our country over the russian invaders#MothersDay #NeverAgain #ArmUkraineNow
Source: Ukraine Now pic.twitter.com/bMLzNR76sm

— Olena Halushka (@OlenaHalushka) May 8, 2022

A few days ago news started spreading that Kateryna "Birdie" from #Azovstal has died. She is alive! In the video she says that "stars burn, and we will live forever".
English subtitles. #SaveMariupol #Mariupol pic.twitter.com/6yvEfSXe1S

— Anton Gerashchenko (@Gerashchenko_en) May 10, 2022