Prepared by Sofia Oliynyk and Maryana Zaviyska
Photo: Telegram channel/ Ombudsman Lyudmyla Denysova
Human rights.
The UN Human Rights Council (UNHCR) has approved a resolution on ‘Deterioration of the human rights situation in Ukraine as a result of Russian aggression’. The document envisaged launching an investigation into allegations of abuses by Russian troops in temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine.
Meanwhile, Russians seek a way to adopt Ukrainian children. Russian media, citing the Russian president’s representative on children’s rights, report that orphans and children deprived of parental care in the temporarily occupied districts of Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts will receive Russian citizenship. Granting children with Russian citizenship will facilitate the adoption procedure in Russia. Previously Russian authorities were announcing the need for amendments to the legislation in order to legalize the adoption procedure. So far, more than 2000 orphans and children deprived of parental care have been deported to Donetsk from Luhansk and Luhansk region.
People who did not pass the ‘filtration’ are identified as ‘unreliable’ and further detained in the filtration camps near Mariupol. The detainees are taken to the former prison N 52 in the village of Olenivka, Donetsk region, or to the infamous Isolation Prison in Donetsk. Minimum imprisonment terms count 36 days throughout of which people are heavily tortured.
‘Skhemy’ project released new images of the mass graves near Mariupol. The images show that the mass graves in the village of Staryi Krym and the village of Vynohradne have increased in size since April. For example, the satellite images of the cemetery in Staryi Krym have increased from 200 meters in April to 340 meters in May.
Cities under attack.
Four Russian missiles out of 12 hit the Kremenchuk district, Poltava region, mainly targeting oil refinery plant. Russian troops launched a cruise missile in Zaporizhzhya. Situation in Kherson is growing more and more critical. Russian forces shelled village Osokorivka, Kherson region with banned phosphorus bombs. Forest fires are further spreading in the Kherson region, hitting approximately 1587 hectares. Heavy battles are taking place at the border of Kherson, Mykolayiv and Dnipropetrovsk region, as Russian forces are using the territory of Kherson region to attack neighboring regions. Explosions recorded in the Mykolaiv region as the occupant forces shelled infrastructure, residential buildings and forest. 31 shellings within a day recorded in the Luhansk region. The Russian forces continue to storm Severodonetsk, Hirska, and Popasna communities: almost 60 houses were destroyed, bridges in Rubizhne were damaged.
Mariupol.
Russia is allegedly to hold the staged referendum in Mariupol on May 15. The referendum envisages voting for Mairupol to join the unrecognized Donetsk People’s Republic as well as overall annexation. Negotiations are underway concerning the exchange of the 38 severely wounded Azovstal fighters, says Deputy Prime Minister Vereshuk. Ukraine is to delegate evacuation powers to ICRC and UN to ensure safe passage of the heavily wounded Ukrainian soldiers from Azovstal. Meanwhile Ukraine Permanent Ambassador to the UN called the UN Secretary General and Security Council to ensure the evacuation of the sick and wounded from the Azovstal area in accordance with international humanitarian law. This morning Russian forces made attempts to proceed with a land offensive that has been recorded at Azovstal.
Food security.
The European Commission is launching the EU-Ukraine Solidarity Lanes strategy. The set of actions aims to ensure Ukraine can export grain, but also import the goods it needs, from humanitarian aid to animal feed and fertilizers. In the short term, the European Commission calls to ensure the demand-supply of additional freight rolling stock, vessels, and lorries. Ukrainian agricultural export shipments should be prioritized, and infrastructure managers should make rail slots available for these exports. Maximum flexibility shall be applied by national authorities to facilitate the exports. Additional vessels for grain storage shall be provided. From a medium and long term perspective, the European Commission will work on increasing the infrastructure capacity of new export corridors and on establishing new infrastructure connections in the framework of the reconstruction of Ukraine.
EBRD guarantees €30 million of over €53 million of lending to support food security in Ukraine. The EBRD risk-sharing instruments enhance local financiers’ capacity to provide access to finance for Ukrainian private companies operating in critical agri-related industries, whether farming or food processing, transport and imports. Also, the institution plans to offer a liquidity line to Ukraine’s rail company Ukrzaliznytsya to keep it running and prepare it to export more Ukrainian goods, EBRD’s eastern Europe head Matteo Patrone told Reuters at the bank’s annual meetings in Marrakech.
Reconstruction.
The United Kingdom has agreed to support the reconstruction of Kyiv and the Kyiv region. A number of other countries have also expressed their desire to rebuild Ukraine. Denmark will take care of the restoration of the Mykolaiv region, and the Baltic countries will help restore the Zhytomyr region.
Assets management.
Verkhovna Rada (Parliament of Ukraine) passed the bill on the confiscation of property of individuals and legal entities of the Russian Federation and the Republic of Belarus. The confiscated assets will be used to strengthen Ukraine’s defense capabilities and restore it. Also, the Parliament passed a decree of President Zelensky on the forced seizure of assets of Russia’s Sberbank and VEB.RF in Ukraine. Previously in April, the government already supported the nationalization of 26 billion assets of Russian banks. Nationalization of the Russian asset
Reading corner.
- If Finland and Sweden join NATO, it’s on Russia – POLITICO
- Temporary Villages Could Shelter Ukraine’s War Refugees — Bloomberg
- How Starlink Scrambled to Keep Ukraine Online | WIRED
- Photos From Ukraine: ONUKA, Alyona Alyohna & Andriy Khlyvnyuk & More Musicians on the Front Lines — Billboard
Statistics.
- 1,721 educational institutions have been damaged due to massive bombings and shelling by Ukrainian armed forces in Ukrainian cities and villages, of which 139 have been completely destroyed. Among the destroyed schools are 25 special schools for children with special educational needs.
- 2100 missiles have been launched at Ukraine by Russia since the beginning of the war.
- 8.3 bln USD Ukraine has already spent on war, says Minister of Finance of Ukraine Marchenko.
- General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine announced the total estimated losses of the Russian military as of 10 a.m., May 13, 2022: personnel – around 26 900, tanks ‒ 1205, APV ‒ 2900, artillery systems – 542, MLRS – 193, anti-aircraft warfare systems – 88, fixed-wing aircraft – 200, helicopters – 162, soft-skinned vehicles and fuel tankers – 2019, boats and light speed boats – 13, operational-tactical level UAV – 405, special equipment – 41, cruise missiles – 95. Also, follow the interactive counter of Russian losses.
Every action counts, no contribution is too small!
- Support NGO ‘Halabuda’ (Mariupol-Zaporizhzhia). Before the war the organization was one of the most active organizations dealing with social initiatives, education, social business, etc. Havined fled from the war, the NGO has oriented their efforts on evacuation, humanitarian aid for those who escaped, as well as support to the local army.
- Share this up-to-date information about the situation in Ukraine, either on social media, with local media or by spreading around this brief update.
- Subscribe to our daily updates on Twitter and our website.
- You can support our project with donations via PayPal. More information here.
Thank you for supporting Ukraine! Slava Ukraini! Glory to Ukraine!
