May 7, 2026

🇵🇱🇺🇦 Putin may be deliberately provoking Ukraine into striking Moscow on May 9 — Rzeczpospolita

According to the Polish newspaper, if Russia truly wanted a ceasefire, it would not be dropping aerial bombs on Zaporizhzhia and Kramatorsk or attacking a kindergarten in Sumy with drones. The publication argues that all signs suggest Vladimir Putin is seeking escalation of the conflict.

The article states that Putin could not have failed to understand that continued bombing of Ukrainian cities may give Kyiv grounds for a painful response on May 9. However, this may be exactly what the Kremlin leader is counting on.

Such a scenario, the analysis says, could be used by Moscow to test loyalty within Russia’s leadership circle and to justify a new wave of forced mobilization. It could also serve as a pretext to accuse Ukraine of permanently breaking frozen peace talks, and potentially even to demonstrate tactical nuclear capabilities amid recent threats of large-scale strikes on Kyiv.

While it is impossible to know Putin’s exact intentions, Rzeczpospolita concludes that after years of full-scale war, the Kremlin leader appears to be betting on escalation as a way out of a strategic deadlock.

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❗️🇷🇺 Putin is losing control of Russia. Every step he takes accelerates its decline, —The Economist

“A bleak view from Moscow” from a former senior Russian government official:

▪️”Putin has led Russia into a dead end, and no one knows what will happen next”;
▪️”Officials, governors, and businessmen are no longer discussing the future in the context of what Putin will decide, but as something that will unfold independently of him—and perhaps even without his participation”;
▪️This doesn’t mean an uprising, but the regime has lost its monopoly on shaping the future. What is happening is the result of a confluence of four factors:
▪️First, the rising cost of military action, which was conceived as a short “military operation”;
▪️Secondly, there’s a growing demand for rules from the elite, who have been forced to return their capital to Russia. Over the past three years, approximately 5 trillion rubles worth of assets have been confiscated from businessmen. They crave rules and a brighter economic future.
▪️The third factor is the changing geopolitical climate. Russia’s war against Ukraine has accelerated the crisis of Western democracy, the rise of populism, and fatigue with globalization. Europe now buys gas from other countries, Russia’s seat on the UN Security Council has been devalued, and nuclear blackmail has undermined the non-proliferation regime.
▪️The fourth point is the destruction of the “agreement” according to which the state did not interfere in people’s private lives, and citizens did not interfere in politics. Everything has devolved into repression and censorship, the most obvious manifestation of which are the current restrictions on internet access.

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🇺🇦 Zelenskyy: Ukraine is adjusting plans for long-range strikes on Russia, taking into account the large-scale movement of air defense from the regions to Moscow for the May 9 parade.

👀 BILD, meanwhile, shows the concentration of air defense around the Russian capital.

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❗️🇺🇦 Ukraine calls on the international community to help prevent a humanitarian catastrophe in occupied areas of Kherson region

The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry said it is particularly concerned about the situation in Oleshky, Hola Prystan, Stara Zburyivka, and Nova Zburyivka.

According to the statement, Russian occupation forces are deliberately blocking civilian evacuation and obstructing the delivery of basic goods, food, and medicine, including for children.

Officials say the population has dropped from 40,000 to around 6,000 people. In Oleshky, it has fallen from 24,000 to about 2,000.

They also report that critical infrastructure has been destroyed, with no electricity or gas supply, while civilians are being targeted by drone attacks.

More than 220 evacuation requests have already been submitted to state authorities. The Foreign Ministry has begun consultations with the UN and the Red Cross and plans to raise the issue at the UN and OSCE platforms.

The ministry urged international partners to pressure Russia to comply with international humanitarian law and ensure evacuation corridors for civilians.

Photo: REUTERS / Murad Sezer

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🇺🇦🤝🏼🇬🇧 This is how British soldiers bid farewell to Ukrainian troops heading to the front after completing their training.

❤️‍🩹 Thank you!

📹 Video: social media

https://www.facebook.com/share/r/1CgJFtHnwH/?mibextid=wwXIfr