Russia-Ukraine war: List of key events, day 432

By William On May 1, 2023

As the war enters its 432nd day, we review key developments.

This is the state of affairs on Monday, May 1, 2023:

To fight

The Russian Defense Ministry has said Russian troops have taken new parts of the eastern city of Bakhmut.
The head of Russia’s Wagner group of mercenaries has threatened to withdraw his troops from Bakhmut over the mounting casualties.
A Ukrainian army spokesman has said Kiev controls a key supply route to Bakhmut. The “road of life” is a vital road between the ruined city and the nearby town of Chasiv Yar to the west – a distance of about 17 km (11 mi).
At least four civilians have been killed and two injured as a result of alleged Ukrainian shells that hit a village in Russia’s Bryansk region, the regional governor said.
Russia has said a drone strike caused a fire at a fuel storage facility in the Crimean port of Sevastopol. Andriy Yusov, a Ukrainian military intelligence official who spoke to RBC Ukraine, said more than 10 tanks of oil products were destroyed without claiming responsibility for the attack.
The Russian army has replaced its top general in charge of logistics ahead of an expected counter-offensive by Kiev. The statement from the Russian Defense Ministry did not mention why Mikhail Mizintsev was replaced after only seven months.

Pope Francis has urged Hungarians to open their doors to others as he concluded a weekend visit with a plea for Europe to welcome refugees, migrants and the poor, and for an end to Russia’s war in Ukraine.
Ukrainian Deputy Foreign Minister Andriy Melnyk has described the possibility that China will take on a mediating role in Ukraine’s war as “not unrealistic”. The former Ukrainian ambassador to Germany said that for Kiev the withdrawal of all Russian troops was a necessity.
French President Emmanuel Macron and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy spoke by phone on Sunday about Ukraine’s military needs, both sides said.
Russia has said it will respond harshly to what it said was Poland’s “illegal” seizure of its embassy school in Warsaw.
Ukrainian fencers, gathered in Paris for a training camp, have said they will not compete against Russians and Belarusians after being re-admitted to international competitions.
The International Olympic Committee’s recommendation to allow Russian and Belarusian athletes to return to international competitions as neutrals is “excessive and discriminatory,” the Russian Olympic Committee’s Athletes Commission said.