Weekly Ukraine war summary: Russia razing Vovchansk to the ground, Shahed downing record, and a strike on Russia’s nuclear forces facility

Russia’s “patriotic” circles have mostly welcomed Putin's purge of the top brass — especially the arrest of Vadim Shamarin, who was in charge of communications, and the dismissal of Sukhrab Akhmedov, commander of the 20th Army. Nevertheless, their replacements are facing daunting challenges: the Russian Armed Forces are struggling with vehicle shortages and communications issues, and the military in general has seen serious degradation over more than two years of war, as The Insider details in a recent piece (which will be made available in English shortly).

Mutual strikes and sabotage

The Ukrainian Air Force Command reports unprecedented successes in fending off Russian Shahed UAVs (1, 2, 3, 4, 5): according to their information, Ukrainian air defense assets failed to down only one out of 131 drones launched on the territory of Ukraine over the past week. Nevertheless, Russian drone raids caused power outages in three regions, including Sumy Oblast. In addition, one of the raids injured three people and set fire to several private houses in Kharkiv.

Kharkiv, the second most populous city in Ukraine, suffered daily attacks over the past week, as did other settlements in Kharkiv Oblast (1, 2, 3). May 20 was declared a regional day of mourning after 11 people were killed in yet another strike the day before. On May 23, a SAM strike launched with an S-300 system killed seven and injured 20 Kharkiv residents. The Factor-Druk printing house lost 50,000 books in the resulting fire.

Apart from Kharkiv, the list of Ukrainian cities under fire this week includes Kherson, and also Pokrovsk (in Donetsk Oblast). Russian targets of military significance included railroad infrastructure in Kharkiv Oblast, a bridge on the Vremyevsky Bulge, the Aviatorske Airfield in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast (in a strike that likely destroyed a previously damaged MiG-29), and a radar station positioning area in Sumy Oblast.

Russia also caused multiple (1, 2, 3, 4) unintended drops of FAB aerial bombs on its own Belgorod Oblast.

Ukrainian forces struck a large number of diverse targets in Russia and the occupied territories this week.

On May 19, drones hit the premises of an oil refinery in Slavyansk-on-Kuban, causing it to suspend operations. On the same day, also in Krasnodar Krai, UAVs struck the Kushchevskaya Airbase, damaging at least two fighter jets (Su-27 and Su-34), as satellite images later confirmed. Also on May 19, ATACMS missiles sank the Tsiklon small missile ship in Sevastopol (a photo confirming the sinking is available to CIT).