The second week of May saw a series of attacks on Odessa, resulting in many casualties. The attacks were carried out with Kinzhal missiles, among others. 

Joe Biden signed The Ukraine Democracy Defence Lend-Lease Act, named in reference to the World War II era Lend-Lease program. Under this Act, the U.S. may supply Ukraine with military equipment in a manner similar to how aid was provided to Britain and the Allies during World War II.

100 civilians remained trapped at the Azovstal steel plant, with no viable means of evacuation. Shelling continued, and Russian forces refused to establish a humanitarian corridor, effectively forcing the remaining defenders to surrender.

On 13 May, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine announced that Russian forces had withdrawn from Kharkiv. On 14 May, Russia launched a series of land, air, and artillery attacks on the Azovstal steelworks, where Ukrainian forces continued to hold their positions. However, Russia’s occupation authorities tightened their control over the rest of Mariupol, limiting food supplies to the city’s remaining 150,000 residents. 

On 16 May, the defenders of Azovstal surrendered and were evacuated from the plant, marking what appeared to be the end of the siege of Mariupol. Four days later, the Russian authorities announced that all Mariupol defenders had been removed from Azovstal. In total, 2,439 Ukrainian soldiers had been taken captive since May 16.

On 17 May, the UK’s Ministry of Defence released a report highlighting that Russia had been using artillery against civilian targets. The report revealed that during the Russian advance toward Kyiv, 80% of the artillery damage in the Chernihiv region had been inflicted on residential buildings, with no regard to the civilian population. 

On 22 May, President Volodymyr Zelensky described the situation in Donbas as difficult. Heavy fighting was underway around Sievierodonetsk, Bakhmut, and Avdiivka. Russian forces aimed to capture Lyman to gain strategic access to Kramatorsk and Sloviansk, the largest cities in the Donetsk oblast still outside Russian control.

The UK’s Ministry of Defence also reported that the number of Russian casualties after three months of war was the same as the number of casualties Russia had sustained during the nine-year Soviet intervention in Afghanistan in the 1980s.

The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported that Russians had deployed Iskanders in the Brest region of Belarus.

Photo Azovstal in 2021. CC-BY 3.0