Victorious news of 439th day of war: restock of Ukrainian Drone Army, traffic jams near Crimea

Ukraine's Drone Army has eight new companies

As of May 8, the Drone Army was replenished with eight new companies of strike and FPV copters, as well as pickups for them. All the drones are Ukrainian-made. This was reported by Ukraine's Minister of Digital Transformation Mykhailo Fedorov.

“We continue to remove blockers to the development of Ukrainian companies. There will be many more changes. We need to produce thousands of drones in Ukraine every month, which the Defense Forces need right now,” the minister emphasized.

Ukraine received a EUR 189.32 million loan from the World Bank

The general fund of Ukraine's state budget received EUR 189.32 million in financing from the World Bank, the press service of the Ministry of Finance of Ukraine reports.

“I am grateful to the World Bank team for supporting Ukraine's financial stability. The funds raised will allow us to reimburse the priority social expenditures of the state budget, in particular, financing the salaries of public sector employees, as well as to further ensure sustainable public administration in Ukraine,” Finance Minister Serhiy Marchenko said. 

The loan was provided under the financing agreement for the Support to Public Expenditures for Sustainable Public Administration in Ukraine project between Ukraine and the International Development Association (IDA).

Ukrainian Armed Forces destroy enemy machine gun crew in Bakhmut

The Ukrainian Special Operations Forces destroyed a Russian machine gun crew in Bakhmut that was firing from a high-rise building.

“The enemy's machine gun crew firing from a high-rise building in Bakhmut was destroyed. Another well-coordinated work of the Ukrainian air defense system operators with the M777 calculation. We continue to work!” the Special Operations Forces Command reported.

The M777 is a light towed British-American howitzer with a 155-millimeter caliber barrel. The military calls it the 'three axes.'

The liberation of Zmiinyi Island brought USD 1.5 billion to the Ukrainian economy

The liberation of Zmiinyi Island, which was an important element for the occupying Russian forces to control the northwestern part of the Black Sea, was positive not only for the Armed Forces but also for Ukraine's economy. In particular, it made it possible to unblock the Danube ports. Oleksandr Kubrakov, Vice Prime Minister for the Restoration of Ukraine, wrote about the economic benefits of the island's liberation in his column for NV Business.

According to the minister, in the first months of the full-scale invasion, the only sea route connecting Ukraine to the world was the Sulinsky Canal, the main navigable strait of the Danube estuary in Romania. However, its capacity was extremely low - on average, up to three ships a day pass through to our ports.

“After the liberation of Zmiinyi Island, we managed to open the Bystre Estuary, which is already in Ukrainian waters, for ship passage. This made it possible to increase the throughput capacity of the Danube ports by 3 times - up to 9 vessels per day,” wrote Olexander Kubrakov. “The effect for the state was approximately an additional 10 million tons of cargo per year, and for the economy an additional USD 1.5 billion. Also, the opening of the Bystre Estuary reduced the freight rate by 30%. Cheaper logistics is crucial for increasing the competitiveness of domestic products in international markets, which has been significantly weakened since the start of the war.”

Russian forces flee Skadovsk with families, documents and loot

In the city of Skadovsk, the occupying Russian forces are curtailing the activities of the district and city administrations. This was reported by the Ukrainian Armed Forces' General Staff. 

“On the night of May 6-7, the occupiers loaded documentation, office equipment and other property of state institutions into vehicles, and on the morning of May 7, a significant part of the Russian occupation administration left the city with their families. At present, a similar situation is observed in such settlements of the region as Mykhailivka, Petrivka, Shyroke, Ulianivka and Krasne. Taking into account the many kilometers of traffic jams that have recently formed at the entrance to Crimea and in the area of the Kerch Bridge, the invaders plan to take out documentation and looted property from the state institutions of the temporarily occupied Kherson region by sea, using a dry cargo ship, through the port of Berdiansk.”