Top news stories about the Russia-Ukraine war on Russia's Channel One on Friday, May 6, 2022.

By Madeline Roache

What follows is NewsGuard’s summary and translation of top news stories from Russia’s state TV Channel One. NewsGuard presents these stories in the order that they appear on the program. NewsGuard shares this summary as part of our mission to monitor and report all categories of misinformation, including Russian disinformation. Please note that these summaries of Russian state TV broadcasts may well contain falsehoods or propaganda, and NewsGuard does not vet them for accuracy or balance.

Russia reopened a humanitarian corridor so that civilians could leave the territory of Azovstal

An hour ago, Russia reopened the humanitarian corridor. Today is the second of three days that our military and Donetsk People’s Republic forces unilaterally cease hostilities from 8 am to 6 pm.

Russian fighters have previously created conditions for people to get out of the danger zone. But civilians at Azovstal are being held hostage by militants.  And will they let anyone go — we don’t know. The day before, for example, a ransom of medicines and food, not money, was demanded in exchange for people. A terrorist’s method is to hide behind hostages and use them as blackmail.

Former hostages of Ukrainian militants share shocking stories

The people who still manage to escape are shocked to see a convoy of empty buses.  Everything is in place for their evacuation. The Russian side has done a lot of work.  But the hostages in the cellars are unaware of this. They are intimidated. They are being threatened. Correspondent Irina Kuksenkova was able to talk to those who have been released.  Her report contains exclusive footage and stories that would touch any one of us.

Natalia Usmanova, a former hostage, said: “It was always cold in the cellar. The dampness, the mold, the stress and fear. I already reached a point of desperation, I felt as though I would never get out of there.”

She said: “We shouted at the soldiers, ‘why are you keeping us here? We came here voluntarily so let us leave voluntarily.’ They said ‘this is a military facility. We’ll decide when you can leave. Right now, this is where we’re stationed, our equipment is here, if you go and you’ll speak about everything’.”

Russia’s Permanent Representative to the UN Vasily Nebenzya described the West’s seizure of Russian assets as robbery

The West is deliberately distorting the Azovstal situation. It’s turning a blind eye to Kiev’s crimes and is fabricating new accusations against Russia. Our permanent representative to the UN, Vasily Nebenzya, spoke about this at a Security Council meeting.

Ukraine, in itself, is of little interest to its so-called partners. The country is only useful as a springboard for attacks against Russia. And they are already coming: just look at the avalanche of sanctions and freezing of our accounts, of $300 billion.

“It was as if you were just waiting for this moment to spin the flywheel of repression against Russia. And if we talk about the world war, then it is, without a doubt, being waged today in the economic field. We have no doubt that you were preparing for it, because the speed with which this flywheel was spun leaves no doubt that you were preparing for this in advance and long before that,” said Vasily Nebenzya, Permanent Representative of the Russian Federation to the UN.

Ukrainian nationalists yet again put heavy equipment near social facilities in territories they control

According to the Russian National Defense Control Center, artillery installations and an ammunition depot are located in a city hospital in Kharkov. Staff and patients were kicked out. The radicals also set up firing points in clinics in Slavyansk, Odessa, and Lisichansk.

In Kherson, which is under the control of our military, Russian soldiers prevented a terrorist attack. In one apartment, they found a laboratory for making explosives. They also found small weapons, ammunition, a grenade launcher and TNT. According to the Ministry of Defense, a resident  in this apartment planned a sabotage on Victory Day. Festive events will be held in the city on May 9.

Soviet T-34 tank is being dismantled in Zhytomyr ahead of May 9 

The Soviet T-34 tank was originally put up [in Zhytomyr, Ukraine] in honor of the 20th anniversary of the Victory in the Great Patriotic War. And now the legendary car is being moved to another location. The city authorities have not specified the date and time that is being taken down in order to avoid crowds of people gathering. 

A fight over history is also taking place in Lithuania. The mayor of Vilnius is initiating the demolition of six monuments in the country’s largest burial site, where more than 3,000 Soviet soldiers, who gave their lives for the liberation of the Lithuanian capital, are buried.

In the Lugansk Republic, the Russian military helped residents restore the memorial to Soviet soldiers

The liberated regions of the Lugansk Republic understand what memory means and the importance of preserving. In one village, the Russian military helped the residents to clean up the memorial to Soviet soldiers. On May 9, no matter what, there are always flowers there. This time, there will definitely be flowers, as well as St. George ribbons, which the Kiev regime stubbornly banned. Sergei Ponomarev has more details in this report.

One resident, Sergei Goklovan, tells Ponomarev: “My dad was called up to the Belarusian military district in 1942. Basically, he immediately died there. He’s buried here.”

Practically every family in this village has a relative who fought or died in the war. Therefore, even when Ukraine officially stopped recognizing Victory Day, local residents continued to bring flowers here on May 9.

The Ukrainian authorities didn’t pay any attention to the memorial. Each spring, the residents took it upon themselves to clean it up. This time, soldiers from the central military district came to help. They brought paint, brushes and got to work.