down under travels in a sunburned country

It would be a day after the annual event commemorating the Soviet victory over Nazi Germany in the Second World War. Russia is bringing Wagner mercenary fighters from other parts of the frontline to fight in the battle for Bakhmut, which Moscow wants to capture in time for its Victory Day celebrations, a senior Ukrainian official has said.ĭeputy Defence Minister Hanna Maliar made the remarks after Wagner Group leader Yevgeny Prigozhin said his mercenary forces would pull out of the area on 10 May because of heavy losses and inadequate ammunition supplies, as we reported earlier (see 9.45 post).

Meanwhile, the Russian-installed governor of the southeastern Zaporizhzhia region has ordered the evacuation of villages close to the frontline, saying Ukrainian shelling had intensified in recent days.Ī widely expected Ukrainian counteroffensive is likely to take place in the region, where Russian forces hold around 80% of the territory. Two villages in the Ukrainian-controlled part of the Kherson region were hit four times today by Russian guided bombs, which destroyed a church building and damaged 20 homes, wounding one person, the regional administration said. Kherson, which Kyiv recaptured from Russia last November after eight months of occupation, is regularly bombarded from across the River Dnipro. Small buses and dozens of cars left Kherson today ahead of a 58-hour curfew following a spate of Russian attacks before the Ukrainian counteroffensive. People are leaving the Ukrainian city of Kherson ahead of a curfew and the Russian-installed governor of the Zaporizhzhia region has ordered the evacuation of villages close to the frontline ahead of a widely-expected Ukrainian counteroffensive. Journalist Ksenia Sobchak said the case against them showed 'rampant ignorance', and that the play in fact had an anti-terrorist message. The detention of the two women has drawn condemnation from several prominent Russian artists and cultural figures. 'Finist, the Brave Falcon' won two 'Golden Mask' national theatre awards last year, and Berkovich also received a nomination for best director. Moscow has intensified a clampdown on freedom of expression, and encouraged citizens to report anyone they suspect of demonstrating disloyalty since Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Investigators opened a case this week against Yevgenia (Zhenya) Berkovich and playwright Svetlana Petriychuk, claiming that Petriychuk's 'Finist, the Brave Falcon', which premiered in 2020 under Berkovich's direction, had broken the law. A prominent Russian theatre director has been remanded in custody after being accused of justifying terrorism with an award-winning play about Russian women who married Islamic State fighters, state news agency TASS reported.

Down under travels in a sunburned country