Dispatches from Ukraine. Day 439.

As Russia’s attack on Ukraine continues and the war rages on, reliable sources of information are critical. Forbes gathers information and provides updates on the situation.

Russia launched a new wave of missile and drone attacks throughout Ukraine, including Kyiv, Kharkiv, and Odesa.

Kyiv. Mayor Vitali Klytchko called Russia’s May 8 drone attack on the Ukrainian capital the “most massive” to date. Ukraine’s military said it intercepted 35 Iranian Shahed drones over the Kyiv area, with shrapnel coming down across the Solomianskyi and Svyatoshin districts. Five Kyiv residents were reported injured in the overnight aerial attack.

Odesa region. A Russian Tu-22 bomber attacked a food warehouse and a recreation area along the Black Sea coast in the early hours of May 8, authorities said. Released footage of the strike shows a storehouse on fire with almost none of the structure left standing. Three staff members are reported to have sustained light injuries in the strike, while a security guard was later found lifeless under the rubble.

Kharkiv. Oleh Synyehubov, head of the regional administration, says Ukraine recorded at least six strikes from S-300 missiles, with some hitting targets in the Kharkiv region. Information about casualties and the extent of the damage is still being assessed.

Kherson. Ukrainian air defense forces shot down 3 Russian drones in the Kherson region on May 8.

Ukraine’s Ministry of Reintegration of Temporarily Occupied Territories announced that the bodies of 80 fallen Ukrainian soldiers were transferred to Ukraine-controlled territory on May 5. An exchange of POWs took place the following day, according to Head of the Office of the President, Andrii Yermak. The exchange saw 45 defenders of the Azovstal plant during last year’s siege of Mariupol released from captivity. Among them are national guardsmen, sergeants, and officers. Also among the freed POWs is a Ukrainian who had spent two and a half years in Russian captivity after being captured during the Shyrokyne standoff near Mariupol in 2015 and then returned to his unit to fight at the start of the full-scale invasion.

Ukraine’s Air Force announced that it intercepted a Russian X-47 hypersonic “Kinzhal” missile with the US-supplied Patriot air defense system over Ukrainian skies on May 4. US officials, CNN said, are confident in the accuracy of Kyiv’s claims. The fact that the Ukrainian crew managed to intercept the hypersonic rocket without American advisors in the field, shows the training they received at an Oklahoma military base has yielded ‘a major return on investment,’ CNN’s unnamed official source said.

Six members of a bomb squad lost their lives in Russian shelling in southern Ukraine, the State Emergency Service press center said. The specialists were on a mine clearing mission in the Kherson region as they came under Russian fire. Two other crew members, including a female paramedic, were wounded. “Terrorists continue to violate the rules of international law by shelling our guys who have been trying to clear territory densely covered with ammunition for months,” the State Emergency Service said in a statement.

President Volodymyr Zelensky has declared that May 9 will from now on be celebrated annually in Ukraine as Europe Day, in honor of its steadfast ally. Ukraine will continue commemorating the World War II victory over the axis powers on May 8. The new Europe Day declaration, Zelenskyy stated, is meant as a symbol of European unity and an attestation to Ukraine’s commitment to shared democratic ideals and values.

A young Ukrainian singer, 13-year-old Sofiya Samoliuk, refused to participate in Italy’s Sanremo music festival on hearing a representative of Russia was among the contestants. The 13-year-old girl gave a beautiful speech explaining her standpoint as she stepped onto the stage after being welcomed to perform. Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba praised the girl's act, saying Sofiya was victorious for Ukraine. “I am grateful to her for this gesture and do not want her to be left without a well-deserved award due to the festival organizers,” he said. “Therefore, I am presenting her with a special thank-you letter from the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine for the triumph of the spirit in cultural diplomacy.”

In a video published on May 5, Wagner Group head Yevgeny Prigozhin is seen cursing Russian high military command for allegedly not providing his mercenary army with enough ammunition. With rows of dead Russian troops in the background, Prigozhin claimed the lack of ammo has already exceeded 70 percent. Two days later, he shared a video message announcing that Wagner units would be leaving Bakhmut on May 10, despite almost entirely capturing the town, if the Kremlin didn't meet his demands for equipment delivery. However, as this news came, Moscow accepted Prigozhin’s ultimatum. Meanwhile, the Ukrainian side says Russia aims to establish complete control over Bakhmut by May 9.

By Daria Dzysiuk, Karina L. Tahiliani