War in Ukraine: What to remember on the 439th day of the Russian invasion

Europe 1 with AFP / Photo credit: Handout / Ukrainian Presidential Press Service / AFP 11:31 am, May 08, 2023

THE ESSENTIALS

This Monday, May 8, day of commemoration of the victory of the Allies over Nazi Germany and the end of the Second World War, Volodymyr Zelensky took the opportunity to sting Russia. According to the Ukrainian leader, the latter will be defeated "in the same way" as Nazism was in 1945. "All the old evil that modern Russia brings back will be defeated in the same way that Nazism was defeated," he said in a speech posted on social media, promising to "liberate" the territories occupied by Moscow.

"Just as we destroyed evil together then, together we destroy a similar evil now," he continued. "This evil, although different today, has the same goal: enslavement or destruction." "We will win!" promised Volodymyr Zelensky in his speech recorded in front of an imposing World War II memorial complex overlooking the Dnieper River in Kiev.

Information to remember:

- Russia will be "defeated in the same way" as Nazism according to Zelensky

- Kiev targeted by drone attacks

- Ukraine renounces May 9 commemorations

A drone war

The paramilitary group Wagner announced Sunday night that it had "promised" from Moscow that it would receive more ammunition to continue fighting in the Ukrainian city of Bakhmut, after threatening to withdraw. On the night of Sunday to Monday, Kiev was the target of drone attacks, according to the military administration of the city, which reported five wounded and drone debris that caused damage in several parts of the capital.

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According to Ukraine's Air Command, 35 Russian drones were shot down. The Odessa region was also targeted overnight, according to the regional military administration. "An X-22 missile hit a logistics infrastructure (a warehouse storing food) (...) causing a serious fire," the source said.

Amid fears of a Ukrainian counteroffensive, the Russian administration in Crimea said Sunday it had repelled a night attack by a dozen drones, which it attributed to Ukraine, on the port city of Sevastopol, the home port of the Russian fleet in the Black Sea. According to Moscow, the drones were neutralized by air defense and electronic jamming. "No infrastructure in the city was damaged," said Mikhail Razvozhayev, the city's governor.

Ukraine renounces May 9 commemorations

Ukraine will renounce any commemoration of the victory over Nazi Germany on May 9 in accordance with Soviet and Russian tradition and will now celebrate this day on May 8 with "the free world", President Volodymyr Zelensky announced.

The May 8 commemorations "are the history of our people, our allies, the free world. Today we are giving it back to our people," Zelensky said in a video address on the occasion of the celebration of the end of World War II, fifteen months after the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the worst military conflict in Europe since 1945. He said he was submitting to parliament on Monday a bill declaring May 8 as "Day of Remembrance and Victory over Nazism in World War II."

Volodymyr Zelensky also said he had signed a decree on the establishment of a "Europe Day" on May 9. Western countries mark the anniversary of Germany's capitulation on May 8, but Moscow has always retained the date of May 9 because of a difference in time zones.