May 1, 2023 - Russia-Ukraine news

A freight train has been derailed following an alleged improvised explosive device attack in the Russian region of Bryansk, the local governor has claimed.

Alexander Bogomaz, the region’s governor wrote on Telegram that the explosive detonated 136 kilometers (84.5 miles) along the Bryansk to Unecha railway, which borders Ukraine. He added that there are no casualties. 

Video circulating on social media shows several carriages of the locomotive derailed and on fire.

CNN was not able to independently confirm the claims.

The Ukrainian Ministry of Energy reported disruption to the electricity grid in Dnipropetrovsk, after a series of Russian missile strikes hit the eastern region.

“There is significant damage to distribution grids. As a result, some consumers in Dnipro city and the region have lost power," the ministry's statement said. It added that it will take “several days to repair."

A wave of Russian strikes hit parts of Ukraine on Monday morning, injuring dozens of people including five children.

Moscow has carried out targeted attacks on Ukraine's power infrastructure throughout the war, temporarily leaving millions without access to water and electricity in a campaign of terror that violates international law.

CNN's Eliza Mackintosh and Yulia Kesaieva contributed reporting.

The number of people wounded in strikes in the Dnipropetrovsk region has risen to 34, according to local officials.

The youngest child injured in the attack is eight years old, according local governor Serhiy Lysak. He added that two women, aged 44 and 55, are in intensive care for their wounds.

The attack was in the Pavlograd district in central eastern Ukraine.

Russia launched a fresh barrage of missiles in parts of eastern Ukraine on Monday.

Ukraine's Air Defense Forces said it intercepted 15 of 18 Russian cruise missiles fired from the northwestern Russian Arctic and the Caspian Sea regions on Monday.

The Ukrainian military said earlier that the eastern cities of Kramatorsk, Kostiantynivka, and Pavlohrad were targeted in the attacks, along with the Dnipropetrovsk region.

Ukraine’s much-anticipated counteroffensive appears imminent -- and the way each side is preparing speaks volumes about their readiness.

Kyiv’s front lines are abuzz with vehicle movement and artillery strikes, with regular explosions hitting vital Russian targets in occupied areas.

Ukraine's defense minister has said preparations are “coming to an end” and President Volodymyr Zelensky has assured a counteroffensive “will happen,” while demurring on any exact start date.

It may have already started; it may be weeks away. We don’t know – and that fact is a strong measure of Ukraine’s success as this begins.

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Hungary’s Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó said people in his country have "already paid an extremely high price" for the war in Ukraine.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and his government have always been by far the closest ally of the Kremlin within the European bloc, leading to thorny diplomatic relations with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

After Moscow launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Orbán was the most reluctant European Union leader to impose sanctions on Russia and has voiced objections to Western nations sending arms to Ukraine.

Szijjártó's comments came after Zelensky told journalists in an interview over the weekend that Hungary's behavior has been "inappropriate," criticizing the NATO member state for making extensive efforts to block Ukraine from joining the transatlantic military alliance.

Zelensky said:

Szijjártó said Hungarians have been providing “constant help” to Kyiv and “have been accepting and caring for more than a million refugees from Ukraine," in a Facebook post on Sunday.

He added that "several Hungarians died in this war -- members of the Hungarian community in the Transcarpathian region.”

Russian attacks killed at least one person and injured three others, including a child, in the Ukraine-controlled part of Kherson during the past 24 hours, a local military chief said Monday.

Oleksandr Prokudin, head of the Kherson regional military administration, said the southern city was shelled eight times, with residential areas and a government building struck.

Earlier, Ukrainian officials said at least 25 people were injured in the Dnipropetrovsk region after Russia launched a fresh round of deadly missile attacks against Ukraine on Monday.

Some 400 Russian convicts have arrived in Ukraine to reinforce Wagner mercenaries fighting for Moscow in the country, according to a statement from the Ukrainian military on Monday. 

The recruits were brought to a field camp in the Berdiansk district of Zaporizhizhia on Ukraine's southern coast, the statement said. As many as 200 more Wagner recruits are expected to arrive soon for training at a camp in the eastern Luhansk region, it added.

In March, CNN reported that Wagner's leader, Yevgeny Prigozhin, announced that he plans to recruit about 30,000 new fighters by mid-May.

At least 25 people, including three children, were injured in Russian missile attacks on Dnipropetrovsk overnight Monday, the Ukrainian region's governor said.

In a statement, Gov. Serhiy Lysak said the missiles hit a residential area in the city of Pavlohrad, damaging homes, schools and stores.

Ukraine's Air Defense Forces said earlier they had intercepted 15 of 18 Russian cruise missiles fired at the country on Monday.

Ukraine's Air Defense Forces intercepted 15 of 18 Russian cruise missiles fired from the northwestern Russian Arctic and the Caspian Sea regions on Monday, the commander-in-chief of Ukraine’s Armed Forces said in a statement.

It comes after the Ukrainian military said Russia launched a fresh round of deadly missile attacks on the country Monday, resulting in an unspecified number of casualties.