Russian overnight missile strike destroys Red Cross warehouse in Odesa

Russian forces "completely" destroyed a Red Cross warehouse in Odesa during a missile strike, the humanitarian aid organization reported on May 8.

According to the Red Cross, its employees and volunteers were not present during the missile strike. However, humanitarian aid was destroyed.

Following the attack, "the provision of humanitarian aid and the activities of some projects of the Odesa Regional Organization of the Red Cross of Ukraine have been suspended," the organization wrote.

Russia launched another large-scale attack against Ukraine over the past 24 hours, targeting Odesa and Kyiv, Sumy, Chernihiv, Kharkiv, Kherson, Zaporizhzhia, Dnipropetrovsk, Luhansk, and Donetsk oblasts.

EU plans to sanction Chinese companies aiding Russia’s war

For the first time since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine began, the European Commission has proposed sanctions against Chinese businesses supporting Moscow’s war efforts, the Financial Times reported on May 8.

A new sanctions list, which will be discussed by EU member states this week, includes seven Chinese companies accused of supplying Russia with equipment that can be used in weapons.

Among them are two companies from mainland China (3HC Semiconductors and King-Pai Technology) and two from Hong Kong (Sinno Electronics and Sigma Technology) that the U.S. sanctioned earlier.

According to the European Commission, cited by the FT, these companies are helping Russia circumvent Western sanctions and continue its war against Ukraine.

3HC, which produces computer circuits, is accused of “attempting to evade export controls and acquiring or attempting to acquire US-origin items in support of Russia’s military and/or defense industrial base.” Meanwhile, King-Pai supplies Russia with microelectronics that can be used for cruise missile guidance systems, the U.S. Treasury previously wrote.

The publication added that Brussels also offers to introduce sanctions against some Iranian companies engaged in the production and supply of drones to Russia, which it uses to attack Ukraine.

If approved by all 27 EU member states, these measures will be part of the bloc’s 11th sanctions package imposed on Russia and its allies over the all-out invasion of Ukraine that started in February last year.

Russian attacks hit 10 Ukrainian regions, kill three civilians over the past day

In the last 24 hours, Russian attacks were reported in ten Ukrainian oblasts – Kyiv, Sumy, Chernihiv, Kharkiv, Kherson, Zaporizhzhia, Odesa, Dnipropetrovsk, Luhansk, and Donetsk.

According to Ukraine's Defense Ministry media center, three civilians were killed, and 28 were injured.

Russia struck 127 settlements using mortars, tanks, artillery, multiple launch rocket systems (MLRS), anti-aircraft missile systems, drones, and strategic and tactical aviation, the media center said on May 8.

According to the report, 139 infrastructure facilities have been hit.

Ukraine downs 35 Russian drones

Russia launched at least 35 Iranian-made Shahed-136/131 drones in the early hours of May 8 amid another large-scale attack on Ukraine, the General Staff of Ukraine's Armed Forces said in its morning update. Ukraine's air defense shot down all the aerial targets.

Kyiv City Military Administration reported that at least 30 of those drones were downed over Kyiv, causing damage to buildings and property and injuring five people.

The administration said via Telegram that at least seven cars were damaged by falling debris in the capital, and one more vehicle caught fire. A residential building was destroyed and debris fell on a separate residential building, the roadway, and the runway of the Ihor Sikorsky Kyiv International Airport (Zhuliany), according to the administration.

A diesel tank was damaged in Kyiv's Solomianskyi district, and a fuel leak was reported. However, there was no fire. Some 15 trucks, five cars in a parking lot, and a high-pressure gas pipe were destroyed.

Over the past 24 hours, Russia has launched 16 missiles, targeting Kharkiv, Kherson, Mykolaiv, and Odesa oblasts; 61 airstrikes and at least 52 MLRS attacks targeting Ukraine's military positions as well as civilian infrastructure.