News
In this week’s summary:
- Russian Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov briefed Vladimir Putin on what he called the “complete defeat” of Ukrainian forces in the Kursk Region.
- Russia and North Korea officially acknowledged the presence of North Korean troops in combat operations on the Kursk front.
- Russian forces expanded their foothold on the western banks of the Oskil and Zherebets rivers in the Kupiansk and Lyman sectors.
- Russian troops approached the administrative border of Ukraine’s Dnipropetrovsk Region; mandatory evacuations were announced in several villages.
- According to the independent open source intelligence (OSINT) project Conflict Intelligence Team, shelling in April 2025 killed a total of 273 civilians and injured at least 1,741 in Russia and Ukraine.
- The updated verified Russian military death toll, compiled by BBC News Russian and the independent exiled publication Mediazona, has exceeded 106,000.
- The delivery of decommissioned Australian M1A1 Abrams tanks to Ukraine has been stalled due to U.S. delays.
- The Trump administration has approved its first new $50 million military aid package for Ukraine.
Situation at the front:
On April 26, 2025, Chief of the Russian General Staff and “special military operation” commander Valery Gerasimov reported to Vladimir Putin that the last settlement in the country’s western Kursk Region had been “liberated” and that Ukrainian forces there had been “routed.” Ukrainian officials and the OSINT project DeepState disputed (1, 2, 3) the claim, asserting that Ukrainian forces remained present in the region — a position echoed by several pro-Russian “war correspondents.” As of early May, according to Russian sources (1, 2), Ukrainian troops were still active in the border areas of Kursk.
Both Russia and North Korea officially acknowledged the involvement of North Korean fighters on the Kursk front. In a statement from the state-controlled Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), Ukrainian troops were described as “neo-Nazi occupiers” acting as the “vanguard and shock brigade of the imperialist powers.” However, some North Korean footage purporting to show Pyongyang’s soldiers in combat was criticized by pro-Russian bloggers as having been staged (1, 2, 3).
In the Kupiansk sector, Russia’s Ministry of Defense (MoD) claimed to have captured the villages of Kamyanka and Doroshivka on the right bank of the Oskil River. However, according to the Ukrainian Telegram channel Ofitser ✙, the situation has stabilized, and Russian attacks on Kupiansk from the north have nearly ceased. The same source reported the use of Shahed drones during daylight hours to strike targets at tactical depth. The Ukrainian 43rd Mechanized Brigade also reportedly repelled another major mechanized assault east of the city.
Russia’s MoD claimed (1, 2) the capture of the settlement of Novoe in the Lyman sector. DeepState confirmed a significant expansion of the Russian bridgehead on the right bank of the Zherebets River, between Nove and Novomykhailivka. Fighting also intensified near Tors’ke on the left bank of the river. Russian troops were spotted attempting daylight attacks while wearing anti-thermal cloaks.
On the western flank of the Pokrovsk sector, Russian troops occupied Nadezhdynka and Kotlyarivka and almost fully captured Uspenivka, advancing toward the Dnipropetrovsk region’s administrative border. Local authorities ordered the mandatory evacuation of families with children from four villages. According to the Telegram channel Ofitser ✙, this was because parts of the region are now within the strike range of certain Russian weapons systems — particularly FPV drones. Meanwhile, on the eastern flank of the front, Russian forces captured Tarasivka and entered Novoolenivka, advancing to encircle Myrnohrad from the east.
In the southern Donetsk axis, the AFU repelled a large Russian assault involving vehicles and motorcycles near the settlement of Kostyantynopil. However, Ukrainian troops were later forced to retreat from the town, likely due to the destruction of bridges over the Vovcha River west of Konstantynopil and Bahatyr — the latter of which is regularly infiltrated by Russian assault groups. Russian forces also took up positions on the outskirts of Volne Pole, north of Velyka Novosilka.
Vladimir Putin declared a new ceasefire — for 72 hours from May 8-10 — timed to coincide with Russia’s Victory Day celebrations. In response, Volodymyr Zelensky called for a ceasefire not just for the sake of a parade, but for at least 30 days. In a previous summary, we reported on the outcome of the earlier “Easter truce,” which led to a significant reduction in combat intensity and an absence of missile and drone strikes — though it did not bring about a full halt to hostilities.
On the evening of April 30, it was confirmed that the United States and Ukraine had signed a long-awaited natural resources deal. A central component of the agreement is a joint investment fund for Ukraine’s reconstruction, which will be partially funded by future natural resource revenues.
Shelling and sabotage
Over the past week, Ukraine’s Air Force reported (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7) shooting down 388 drones — including Shaheds and other unidentified types — out of 957 launched toward Ukraine. Another 371 drones were “radar-lost” due to electronic warfare. Eight Russian missile launches were also reported, though no interception data was provided.
A failed assassination attempt was made on Ukrainian activist and volunteer Serhii Sternenko, known for organizing crowdfunding campaigns for FPV drones. He sustained a gunshot wound. The shooter was quickly detained; according to a report by the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), she had been recruited by Russian intelligence late last year.
Russia’s MoD reported downing 455 fixed-wing drones over Russia and occupied Crimea, as well as 10 unmanned ground vehicles (UGVs) and one high-speed Willard boat.
Vladimir Saldo, the Russian-installed “governor” of Ukraine’s occupied Kherson Region, claimed that a market in Oleshky was shelled on May 1, leaving 8 dead and 12 wounded. However, footage released by the Russian occupation authorities did not substantiate the scale of the incident — or implicate Ukrainian forces.
According to data put together by volunteers at the open source intelligence (OSINT) project Conflict Intelligence Team (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6), between 8:00 p.m. on April 24 and 8:00 p.m. on May 1, at least 68 civilians were killed and 397 wounded due to strikes on civilian infrastructure on both sides of the front. For all of April 2025, at least 273 civilians were killed and 1,741 injured as a result of shelling and airstrikes on civilian areas.
Losses
BBC News Russian and the independent outlet Mediazona, together with a team of volunteers, have updated their count of Russian military fatalities based on open-source obituaries and reports. The list of verified names now includes 106,745 Russian servicemen. Between April 18 and May 2, the list expanded by 3,470 names.
Deputy Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine, Iryna Vereshchuk, stated that around 8,000 Ukrainian prisoners of war (POWs) are currently held in Russia. She added that Russian authorities routinely list civilians detained in Russia as POWs for exchange purposes.
Weapons and military vehicles
The U.S. has canceled cybersecurity contracts involving American and Ukrainian specialists working for Ukraine and has frozen deliveries of related equipment, according to a report by Bloomberg. It has also emerged that the decommissioned M1A1 Abrams tanks that Australia pledged to transfer to Ukraine six months ago have yet to leave the country, as the Trump administration has not granted a formal re-export approval.
Following the signing of the natural resources deal between the United States and Ukraine, the Trump administration notified Congress of its intention to authorize $50 million worth of arms exports to Ukraine under the Direct Commercial Sales (DCS) mechanism. This marks the first new U.S. arms shipment to Ukraine of Trump’s new term.
Meanwhile, the Russian Armed Forces have introduced a new jet-powered UAV called “Banderol” (meaning “parcel”) — it has been described as a loitering munition, and also as a cheap cruise missile. However, drone countermeasure systems worth 820 million rubles, supplied from China to Russia’s National Guard (Rosgvardiya), have reportedly failed to meet their advertised specifications.
OSINT researchers have reported that one of the largest and oldest arsenals of the Russian GRAU (Main Missile and Artillery Directorate) has been depleted by more than half. The facility, located in Omsk, stored up to 60% of Russia’s self-propelled artillery stock before the start of the full-scale war.
At the front, Russian troops have showcased 2024-model tanks modified with makeshift dome-shaped anti-drone cages (“grills”) mounted over unusable factory turrets. One heavily improvised civilian vehicle, heavily armored with these makeshift additions, was dubbed a “greenhouse on wheels” by military analyst Yan Matveev.