Russia-Ukraine war: Will Putin officially declare war on Ukraine?

Three killed in Russian shelling of Donetsk 

At least three civilians were killed in the Russian shelling of the city of Vuhledar in the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine on Tuesday, the Ukrainian president's office said.

Some other areas of Donetsk were under constant fire and regional authorities were trying to evacuate civilians from front line areas, it said.

From "special operation" to "war"

Russia's invasion of Ukraine has been going on for 69 days now, but some Western officials believe that Russian President Vladimir Putin may make it official on Monday, May 9, according to CNN. 

Moscow has made it a point to call its invasion of Ukraine a "special operation" committed to the goal of "denazifying" the country.   

May 9 is significant because it is a commemoration of Russia's victory over Nazi Germany in 1945. Germany surrendered - via a legal document called the German Instrument of Surrender - on the evening of May 8, which fell on May 9 in Russia. 

One dead, two injured in Kharkiv

Shelling continued in Kharkiv, a major target for the Russian invasion, Ukraine's Armed Forces said. Ukrainian state media Pravda added that, according to Kharkiv Regional State Administration chairman Oleh Synegubov, two were injured on Monday. 

Additionally, according to the report, a 46-year-old worker died in a factory that caught on fire. 

Russian assault continues on Odesa

Russia has struck a military airfield near Ukraine's southwestern city of Odesa with missiles, destroying drones, missiles and ammunition supplied to Ukraine by the United States and its European allies, the defense ministry said on Tuesday.

"High-precision Onyx missiles struck a logistics center at a military airfield in the Odesa region through which foreign weapons were being delivered," the defense ministry said.

"Hangars containing unmanned Bayraktar TB2 drones, as well as missiles and ammunition from the US and European countries, were destroyed," it said.

Russian missiles and artillery also struck various military targets across Ukraine, including command centers, arsenals, and an S-300 anti-aircraft missile system.

The governor of Odesa, Maksym Marchenko, said a rocket strike had hit the Black Sea port city on Monday evening, causing deaths and injuries.

Russia is regrouping - Armed Forces

Russia is attempting to regroup and compensate for its losses, the armed forces claimed, detailing a replenishment operation by Russian forces in the city of Boguchar in western Russia's Voronezh Oblast, approximately 50 km. from the Ukrainian border. 

The armed forces also reported destroying six Russian tanks and two combat units in the Donetsk and Luhansk separatist regions in the east. 

According to an update from the British Defense Ministry, Russia's military is "significantly weaker, both materially and conceptually, as a result of its invasion of Ukraine. Recovering from this will be exacerbated by sanctions."

Russia continues to shell Azovstal 

Russian forces continued to shell Azovstal steelworks in Mariupol overnight between Monday and Tuesday, according to Ukraine's Internal Affairs Ministry. 

Mariupol's mayor said that around 100,000 Ukrainian civilians are still in the city, with 200 of them trapped with fighters. 

Yesterday, the UN launched "safe passage operations" for civilians trapped in the area. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that around 100 were evacuated. 

Mariupol's Azovstal steel plant — which has served as the last bastion for pro-Ukraine fighters — has been shown to be "significantly destroyed" by Russian attacks, according to an exclusive report by CNN citing satellite images by Maxar Technologies of the plant on Saturday. Photos show damaged roofs and buildings reduced to rubble, the report said.
 

Moscow says 1,847 children among thousands transported from Ukraine to Russia.

More than 11,500 people, including 1,847 children, were transported from Ukraine into Russia on Monday without the participation of Kyiv's authorities, Russia's defense ministry said.