Min Aung Hlaing claims international support for regime election
Regime leader Min Aung Hlaing claimed that world leaders he met with during his trip to Russia for the 80th Victory Day commemorations support his election plan, scheduled to begin in December. He did not mention any countries by name, but his office announced that he had met with China’s President Xi Jinping and Kazakhstan’s President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev during his visit to Moscow May 7-9.
“We will be organizing a free and fair election by the end of this year. I see that all meeting counterparts were supportive and expressed their support,” Min Aung Hlaing told regime media during his return flight from Russia to Burma on Saturday. This was his fifth trip to Russia since the 2021 military coup. Min Aung Hlaing was officially welcomed to Moscow as Burma’s “Head of State” on March 3.
Chinese state media Xinhua reported on Friday that President Xi pledged to support Burma in its rebuilding efforts following the March 28 earthquake. Neither Naypyidaw nor Moscow confirmed on Sunday whether Min Aung Hlaing met with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Sources told DVB that the regime is procuring weapons and Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), or drones, from Russia.
Seventy-seven political parties registered, UEC states
The regime’s Union Election Commission (UEC) announced on Saturday that a total of 77 political parties had registered before the May 9 deadline to field candidates in the upcoming general elections scheduled for December. The UEC added that 27 are newly-registered parties, while the remaining 50 had been previously registered.
The National League for Democracy (NLD) party, which was ousted as the elected government in a 2021 military coup, declined to re-register under the regime which seized power by force. The NLD won landslide victories in the 1990, 2015 and 2020 elections. Its leaders, State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi and President Win Myint have been held in prison since Feb. 1, 2021.
The UEC reported that polls will only be held in only 110 of the country’s 330 townships nationwide. Human Rights Watch, civil society organizations, and anti-coup groups have called on the U.N., Japan, South Korea, India, and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to “defiantly” oppose any election that would legitimize military rule in Burma.
National Unity Government unconcerned over withdrawals
The National Unity Government (NUG) stated that it is not worried about the number of People’s Defence Force (PDF) battalions withdrawing from under its Ministry of Defence command, a spokesperson told DVB on Thursday without disclosing the exact number of withdrawals. The NUG announced that it has spent $24.9 million USD to finance the PDF since its formation in 2021.
“We believe the battalions that left our chain of command continue the revolution in their own ways,” Nay Phone Latt, the spokesperson of the NUG Prime Minister’s Office, told DVB. He added that the NUG commands over 300 battalions, and the number of them that have withdrawn is only a “small two-digit figure.” The NUG celebrated the fourth anniversary of the PDF resistance to the regime on May 5.
A PDF in Kyaukse District of Mandalay Region told DVB that it submitted its resignation letter on April 21 and was awaiting NUG approval to officially withdraw. Five armed groups withdrew from NUG command due to disagreements over relocations and allegations of insufficient administrative support in March. Federal Wings, which specializes in Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) and drone warfare, left the NUG on Oct. 6.
News by Region
SAGAING—Kanni Township residents told DVB that airstrikes destroyed over 10 homes in Sulekone village on Friday. Kanni is located 40 miles (64 km) north of the region’s capital Monywa and has been under NUG control since the PDF seized it in 2023.
“Two fighter jets from Meiktila Air Base dropped six bombs at three different locations” a resident told DVB on the condition of anonymity. No casualties were reported. Sulekone is located four miles east of Kanni town. The village has a population of 1,000, but most residents fled last month due to previous airstrikes.
KACHIN—A resistance force member in Bhamo Township told DVB on the condition of anonymity that 15 civilians were killed and 30 others were injured by an airstrike on Taunglaylon Yeiktha meditation center in Nyaungpintha neighborhood on Thursday. Bhamo is located 120 miles (193 km) south of the state capital Myitkyina.
“A fighter jet opened fire upon these civilians who fled from the meditation center,” he told DVB. A total of 387 civilians have fled their homes during fighting between the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) and regime forces, which resumed on April 25 after a pause during the April 2-22 ceasefire announced by both sides.
BAGO—Sources in Shwegyin Township told DVB that around 500 regime troops from Waw Township crossed the Sittaung River on Saturday to recapture the Light Infantry Battalion (LIB) 598 from the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA), which seized it from regime forces on Thursday.
Two airstrikes were carried out during fighting. No casualties were reported. Waw and Shwegyin are located 22-64 miles (35-102 km) north of the region’s capital Bago. Fighting between KNLA-led resistance forces and regime troops over control of the LIB 598 began in April.
TANINTHARYI—The Karen National Union (KNU) seized the Htee Khee base in Dawei Township on Friday. The base is 71 miles (115 km) east of the region’s capital Dawei, and about five miles (8 km) west of Phu Nam Ron in Kanchanaburi Province of Thailand.
“About three-quarters of the base is located inside Thailand,” said Aung Aung, the deputy commander of a resistance group allied with the KNU that participated in the operation. Htee Khee served as the KNU divisional headquarters from 1975 until it was seized by the military in 1997.
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