As we detailed previously, a large wave of Russian missiles targeted cities across Ukraine Wednesday night, it what appears an ongoing attempt to overwhelm Ukraine’s anti-air defenses.

By Thursday morning it was confirmed that at least 30 cruise missile were launched against Ukraine in the overnight hours, resulting in one person killed and at least two wounded. But Ukrainian authorities are once again claiming to have shot down the vast majority of inbound missiles, with Ukraine’s air force saying in a statement that 29 out of 30 of the missiles were intercepted. 

BBC and others have tallied that this is the ninth large wave of missile attacks launched by Russia this month alone. But the report notes that Ukraine has also been shooting down more, also just after deploying US Patriot missile systems – at least one of which has already been struck by the Russians. 

“So far in May, Russia has carried out four mass launches – two them between 16 and 18 May alone – compared to one each in April and March, and two in February,” BBC details. “The last time Russia attacked with such intensity was in the period after New Year, when four attacks took place in quick succession between 31 December and 26 January.”

Unconfirmed videos which circulated widely on social media showed a large-scale overnight attack in progress, including on targets as far south as Odessa on the Black Sea. 

But naturally, statements put out by Russia’s defense ministry contradict the Ukrainian claim of the majority of missiles shot down: 

Russian forces hit Kiev’s large foreign equipment and armament depots and army reserves with seaborne and air-launched precision weapons, destroying substantial weapon and ammunition stockpiles during the special military operation in Ukraine, Defense Ministry Spokesman Lieutenant-General Igor Konashenkov reported on Thursday.

“Last night, Russian forces delivered multiple strikes by seaborne and air-launched long-range high-precision weapons against large foreign armament and equipment depots and enemy reserves. The goal of the strikes was achieved. All the designated targets were hit. The strikes destroyed considerable stockpiles of the Ukrainian army’s armaments and ammunition and thwarted the advance of reserves to the areas of combat operations,” the spokesman said.

Russia has appeared to be particularly going after foreign arms shipments of late. For example, a weekend direct hit on what’s reported to have been an arms depot close to Khmelnytskyi led to speculation that radioactive dust may have been released due to the possible presence of UK-supplied depleted uranium shells. 

As for the ongoing fight for Bakhmut, Ukrainian officials have belatedly admitted that Russia is making progress in the town this week.

“Ukraine said Tuesday it had pushed Russian forces from the flanks of Bakhmut but conceded that Moscow’s forces were pushing deeper inside the embattled town,” according to The Moscow Times, following days of conflicting narratives on the battlefield situation.

Russian troops attacked large warehouses of the Armed Forces of Ukraine with foreign equipment

Russian troops attacked large warehouses of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) with foreign equipment and weapons. This was announced to journalists on Thursday, May 18, by the Russian Defense Ministry .

They specified that the group strike was inflicted by high-precision long-range sea and air-based weapons. In addition to warehouses, strikes were made against enemy reserves.

“The goal of the strikes has been achieved. All designated facilities have been hit,” the Defense Ministry explained, adding that the night attack by the Russian Armed Forces (AF) destroyed significant stocks of weapons and ammunition of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and prevented the advancement of enemy reserves.

Earlier it was reported that the Russian Armed Forces launched a group attack at night on a large Ukrainian ammunition depot in Nikolaev. The warehouse was located on the territory of the ship repair enterprise. The defense department reported that the goals of the strike were achieved, the designated object was hit.

On February 24, 2022, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced the start of a special operation in the Donbass. Thus, according to him, Moscow responded to requests for military assistance from the heads of the Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics (DNR and LNR).

I guess ukrainian offensive will be delayed for sure!

The Ministry of Defense of Russia announced the destruction of significant stocks of weapons and ammunition of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

The Ukrainian military lost significant stocks of ammunition as a result of… pic.twitter.com/wOsS3pS2bg

— T.Vajrayana (@TVajrayana) May 18, 2023

💥 AFU drone shows fighting for the last bit of Bakhmut: Ukrainian stronghold is burning and smoking
Wagner PMC completes squeezing the enemy out of the cityhttps://t.co/n5oCJ6Ktkr pic.twitter.com/dXYSev0XtG

— Zlatti71 (@djuric_zlatko) May 18, 2023

Capture of key Donbass city ‘days away’ – official

The flag of Russian private military company Wagner Group on a roof in Artyomovsk, also known as Bakhmut. ©  Sputnik

NATO is openly preparing for war with Russia. NATO is developing the first large-scale plan since the Cold War in the event of a conflict with Russia – Reuters.
▪️At the summit in Vilnius on July 11-12, it is planned to approve a document on “thousands of pages”.… pic.twitter.com/oVfxkuI6t3

— Victor vicktop55 (@vicktop55) May 18, 2023

High activity with ~20,000 CPM (normal ~25 CPM) again here for ~90 seconds (6pm) before it slowly went back to normal. So it isn’t U238 (DU) with its halflife of ~4.5 billion years. Poland says Bismuth + Beryllium. Probably a lot of other radionuclides were released. Dirty bomb? pic.twitter.com/nxVrb1NruH

— Δαίμων (@michael_bautz) May 17, 2023