The Washington Post reports that the USS Gerald R. Ford Aircraft Carrier is being withdrawn from the area of the Middle East and returning home to the US after a 10-month-long deployment.

This leaves only 2 strike carrier groups operating in the area of the Middle East, significantly reducing the US firepower available for any future attacks on Iran.

Trump claims that he was the one who suggested a ceasefire in Ukraine for May 9, contradicting initial reports by Russian media that it was Putin who proposed the deal.

Trump stated that he thinks Putin will implement this, and will make an announcement regarding it soon.

In my opinion, Putin wants a drone-free May 9 Victory Day parade, as a massive Ukrainian drone attack on Moscow during the parade would be a PR nightmare for Russia.

Ukraine has significantly improved long-range drone (and missile) capabilities compared to this time last year, and could carry out another one of their attacks where they launch 500+ drones in a single day. Even if Russia is theoretically able to shoot down every single drone targeting Moscow, there would still be debris falling everywhere, mobile internet outages, and constant air raid sirens.

Of course, ceasefires like this are also good PR for Russia at the same time, as it helps paint them in the light of supporting negotiations and a peaceful resolution.

Trump mistook Ukraine for Iran, claiming that "Ukraine is militarily defeated, you wouldn't know that by reading the fake news".

⚡️🇺🇸🇮🇷 Bloomberg: CENTCOM has requested deployment of the Army’s Dark Eagle hypersonic missile to the Middle East for possible use against Iran, aiming to target ballistic missile launchers deeper inside the country.

If approved, it would mark the first operational deployment of the U.S. hypersonic missile system, which has faced delays and has not yet been declared fully operational.

The request reportedly states that Iran has moved launchers beyond the range of the Precision Strike Missile, prompting the need for a longer-range option. No final decision has yet been made.

@wfwitness

First point is absolutely false, second point about Ukraine’s battlefield position is true.

Here's a map showing who has the advantage along what part of the frontline, based on my own observations.

You might have to zoom in a bit to get a clearer view.

Russian mapper Radov seems to agree with me about Ukraine's battlefield position being better than its been for 9-10 months.

Some people are still banned after the bot purge a couple of weeks ago. If you are, please let me know in the channel DMs.

This is only for people who were mistaken for being a bot. If you were banned for another issue you will be ignored for the time being as we try to fix this issue.

Some Ukrainian soldiers were also able to re-enter parts of Hulyaipole 👀

More info on that later

Russian Tornado-S rocket launches to Pechenihy, Kharkiv Oblast.

I'm planning on doing a livestream on YouTube this weekened, covering the general situation on the frontline in Ukraine.

I did a predictions livestream last year and a lot of you guys liked it, so I thought it would be cool to bring that back in the form of situational map updates. If it goes well, I could make this a weekly thing. I know a lot of people prefer visual, video-format updates over walls of text.

For those interested, my YouTube channel is: https://www.youtube.com/@AMK_Mapping

For the next 12 hours, there is an increased threat of a large-scale, combined Russian missile and drone attack on Ukraine.

The threat specifically involves Iskander-M ballistic missiles, Kinzhal hypersonic aeroballistic missiles, and Geran-2/Gerbera drones.

During the combined missile attack on April 25, only ~13 Iskander-M ballistic missiles were used. Upwards of 24 were delivered to OTRK installations surrounding Ukraine prior to that attack. Taking into account additional deliveries over the last five days, there more than 20 missiles concentrated near the launch sites, a portion of which could be used today.

Additionally, 6 MiG-31K fighters are stationed at Savasleika Airbase, Nizhny Novgorod Oblast, under their concrete bunkers. 3 of them carried out a training mission yesterday afternoon, while a fourth conducted a training mission yesterday evening. It is possible that they will be used to launch Kinzhals today.

Furthermore, according to unconfirmed information, upwards of 80 Geran-2/Gerbera drones have been launched from various launch positions surrounding Ukraine. Some of these launches have been confirmed, with around 25 new drones currently detected in Ukrainian airspace.

The usage of other missile types (such as Iskander-K and Kh-59/69 cruise missiles) is not ruled out, however there is currently no threat of Tu-95MS/160 strategic bombers being used.

As of now, it is not confirmed that an attack will take place, so I will continue to monitor and provide further updates as more information comes in.

Right now, the number of reported Geran-2/Gerbera drone launches (from Kursk, Smolensk, Bryansk, Rostov, and Oryol Oblasts) is ~170. Not all of these are confirmed, only around 30 new drones are detected.

Yesterday, Ukrainian sea-drones struck two Russian patrol ships operating in the Kerch Strait.

A Russian firefighter films the scale of damage at the Tuapse Oil Refinery in Krasnodar Krai following repeated Ukrainian drone strikes.