Ukraine updates: Zelenskyy urges more effective air defense

Following the latest Russian missile attacks on Ukrainian cities, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has called for a strengthening of his country's air defense.

"We are working with our partners as actively as possible to make the protection of our skies even more reliable," Zelenskyy said on Monday in his nightly video address.

"Last night alone, from midnight to seven in the morning, we managed to shoot down 15 Russian missiles," Zelenskyy said. "But unfortunately not all of them".

Zelenskyy's statements come after a series of Russian attacks with cruise missiles and rockets hit several parts of Ukraine on Sunday night.

The Ukrainian leader said there would be retaliation in response to the attacks. "For every such attack, the Russian invaders will receive our response," he said.

Here are some of the other headlines concerning Russia's war in Ukraine on Tuesday, May 2:

Explosion derails another Russian goods train

A blast has derailed a Russian freight train in a region near the border with Ukraine — the second such accident in days. 

The locomotive, along with about 20 goods wagons, derailed near Belye Berega on Tuesday evening "due to illegal interference in the work of railway traffic," Russian Railways RZD said on the Telegram website. 

An "unknown explosive device" had exploded, according to Bryansk Governor Alexander Bogomaz. According to initial information, nobody was injured in the incident. 

There was a similar explosion in the same region on Monday, when another goods train was derailed. 

There is speculation that the rise in attacks on Russian infrastructure in recent weeks shows Ukraine is preparing its spring offensive by targeting Moscow's supply routes.

A fuel depot on the Crimean peninsula, annexed by Russia in 2014, caught fire after a drone attack last weekend.

Russian propaganda largely works, analyst says

Russian propaganda is largely successful at advocating Moscow's disinformation in Russia and beyond, at least among much of the population, said Jakub Kalensky, senior analyst at the European Center of Excellence for Countering Hybrid Threats.

Kalensky told DW on Tuesday that determining the true efficacy of Russian propaganda was tricky. He cast doubt on the numbers suggested by Russian polls, pointing out that many Russians are scared to answer such polls honestly.

"But from some other, you could say, circumstantial evidence, we can conclude that many Russians do believe the official Russian propaganda," he said. 

Kalensky noted that the Russian state's efforts to "eradicate all the alternative sources of real information" helps spread their propaganda further. 

The analyst also said some international figures give Russian propaganda an extra boost, describing this third party endorsement as the Kremlin's most "cost-effective" way of influencing opinion outside Russia. 

"When we see very influential figures like the pope or Elon Musk repeating some of the notorious Russian disinformation messages, I think we have to conclude that they do find their audience even in the democratic countries."

Norway to increase defense spending to 2% of GDP by 2026

Norway is aiming to raise its defense spending to at least 2% of GDP by 2026, in line with NATO guidelines, Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre said.

The Nordic country's defense spending this year is expected to be just over 1.4% of GDP, according to the government's projections.

Norway's spending on defense as a share of GDP declined following the end of the Cold War, but the war in Ukraine had shown the need for a strong military, the government said. 

Black Sea grain deal talks continue

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters that talks to extend a deal allowing Kyiv and Moscow to export grain through the Black Sea were continuing but without results. 

Moscow has repeatedly indicated it is prepared to walk away from the agreement on May 18 —  which is when the deal expires unless Russia agrees to its renewal —  if its demands to ease restrictions on its own agricultural exports are not addressed.

Peskov warned that the window to negotiate a deal was narrowing, saying: "The terms of the deal that concern Russia's agricultural sector are not being fulfilled." 

German involvement in the war growing by the day, Kremlin says

A Kremlin spokesperson said German involvement in the war in Ukraine was growing by the day and that Berlin had no way of ensuring that Western weapons provided to Kyiv would not be used against Russian territory.

Dmitry Peskov told reporters that "First, Germany doesn't have a way to check. Second, the weapons supplied by Germany to the Kyiv regime are already firing at Russian territory, because the Donbas is a Russian region."

Luhansk and Donetsk, which together make up the Donbas region, were among the parts of Ukraine to be unilaterally declared part of the Russian Federation last year, following regional referendums dismissed as a sham by Kyiv and the West.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said on Monday that German-made weapons supplied to Kyiv should not be used against Russian territory.

Moscow trying to provoke early Ukraine offensive, Ukrainian official says

Moscow has changed its tactic in the war with Ukraine and has begun to deliberately target residential areas with missile strikes, Ukrainian presidential advisor Mykhailo Podolyak said.

"There's no doubt that they are conducting direct attacks on civil residential houses or locations with many houses belonging to the civilian population," he said.

During the colder winter months, Russia had predominately targeted Ukraine's energy infrastructure. According to Podolyak, one aim of the change in tactics was to try and provoke a rushed counteroffensive. He also said the latest missile strikes were intended to test whether Ukraine was able to protect its own air space.

Ukraine has been touting a spring counteroffensive to retake Russian-occupied territories for months.

Shoigu says weapons production key to success in Ukraine

Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said Russia was inflicting heavy blows to Ukraine across the entire frontline, but that the supply of weapons was crucial to ensuring success in the war that Moscow continues to refer to as its "special military operation."

Shoigu said Moscow had taken steps to boost its arms production to support the war, as he said Russian forces' success on the battlefield would "largely depend on the timely replenishment of weapons" and other military equipment.

"The country's leadership has set defense enterprises the task of increasing the pace and volume of production in a short time," Shoigu said. He also added the army had all the ammunition it needed for use on the battlefield this year but called on a major rocket producer to urgently double its output of high-precision missiles.

Russia may use civilians, journalists to spy on Denmark — Danish intelligence

Denmark's intelligence service expects Russia to recruit civilians and use journalists and business people to spy on the country as an alternative to Russian diplomats who were expelled last year on suspicion of espionage.

Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine has intensified Moscow's need for intelligence gathering in NATO countries, the Danish Security and Intelligence Service (PET) said in a report. However, when Denmark expelled 15 Russian diplomats in April last year, it crippled Russia's capacity to spy on Danish soil.

PET, therefore, expects Russia to try to use other ways of spying in Denmark, such as "stationing intelligence officers in Denmark outside the diplomatic representations, for example as journalists or business people." Other methods would include different forms of electronic intelligence gathering and cyber espionage, PET added.

Russian defense industry is still failing to meet wartime demands — UK

Russia does not have enough ammunition to make decisive progress in offensives in Ukraine, the British Defense Ministry said in its latest intelligence update. Moscow continues to give the highest priority to mobilizing its defense industry, but it is still failing to meet wartime demands, it said.

According to the UK update, Russia's political leaders persist in demanding success on the battlefield, while logistics professionals are stuck in the middle.

As an example, the British ministry cited the recent dismissal of Russian Deputy Defense Minister Mikhail Mizintsev, who was responsible for the material and technical supplies of the army for eight months. 

The shortage of ammunition is also leading to internal disputes, especially between the army and the head of the Wagner mercenary group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, the update added.

Ukrainian forces shell village in Russia's Bryansk region — governor

Ukrainian forces shelled a village in the Russian Bryansk region bordering Ukraine, the local governor said in a social media post.

"In the morning, the Armed Forces of Ukraine shelled the village of Kurkovichi in the Starodubsky municipal district," Bryansk Governor Alexander Bogomaz said on his Telegram channel.

"There were no casualties. As a result of the shelling, a fire broke out in one of the households. All emergency services are on site," he added.

Ukraine almost never publicly claims responsibility for attacks inside Russia and on Russian-controlled territory in Ukraine. The military, however, reports daily on activities and troop movements in battlefield areas.

Ukraine's NATO hopes are in jeopardy — reports

Ukraine's hopes for a more concrete prospect of joining NATO are in danger of being dashed for the time being.

According to information from the German dpa agency, NATO members such as the United States and Germany have recently made it clear behind closed doors that they do not want to make any commitments for the time being that go substantially beyond a vague NATO declaration from 2008.

This declaration stated that Ukraine and Georgia should join NATO, but it did not give a specific timeline for membership.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy recently called on NATO to clear the way for his country to join the military alliance at its next summit in July.

More DW coverage on Russia's war in Ukraine

The work of the German War Graves Commission has continued in the midst of the ongoing war in Ukraine, recalling the horrors of World War II in that country. Ukrainian soldiers have helped report new findings.

Ukraine is preparing for what could be a decisive counteroffensive to liberate territories occupied by Russia. The longer Kyiv waits, the better its chances seem to get. DW takes a look at the goals, opportunities and risks of Ukraine's long-planned counterattack.

rm, dh/sms (AP, AFP, dpa, Reuters)