Russian troops bombed Lysychansk, a strategic city in eastern Ukraine that will hold out “for as long as necessary”, the regional governor said on Wednesday (22nd). Candidate status to join the European Union (EU).
“The Russian army is bombing Lysychansk on a massive scale with artillery, missiles, air bombs, missile launchers… They are destroying everything,” said Serhiy Haiday, governor of the Luhansk region, located in the Donbass mining basin.
In addition, the Russian army already occupies two-thirds of Severodonetsk, separated from Lysychansk by the Donets River.
Hayday added that Severodonetsk is experiencing “hell”.
A representative of pro-Russian separatists, who have controlled parts of Donbass since 2014, said that the encirclement of Ukrainian forces was approaching the twin cities.
“Soon, groups [ucranianos] Andrey Marochko told Russian state television that Lysychansk and Severodonetsk will be surrounded.
‘Marshall plan’
In Lysychansk, a Russian attack punctured a police station and damaged a nearby apartment block. Authorities reported that 20 police officers were injured.
The Russian Ministry of Defense claimed responsibility for an attack in Mykolaiv, further south, that killed large numbers of Ukrainian soldiers.
According to the mayor of this Ukrainian town, Oleksandr Senkevuch, the bombing hit two businesses, a school, and caused a fire.
Russian officials said two Ukrainian drones bombed an oil refinery in Russia’s Rostov region on the Ukrainian border, causing no casualties.
German head of government Olaf Scholz predicts that rebuilding Ukraine will require “a Marshall plan”, referring to the massive investments of American resources to rebuild Western Europe after WWII.
Since the start of the Russian occupation on February 24, Ukraine has had the support of the United States and the EU, who will hold a summit meeting in Brussels over the next two days to decide whether to grant the former Soviet republic candidate status for accession. .
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky said, “I will do everything for the approval of the historic decision of the European Union. This is important for us.”
Zelensky, on the other hand, demands more weapons from the Western powers to contain the Russian offensive in the east.
The NGO Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) has condemned the “shocking level” of suffering caused by the violence of the war in Ukraine on civilians who are the victims of “constant indiscriminate attacks”.
No ‘concrete agreement’
A Turkish cargo ship departed on Wednesday from the Ukrainian port of Mariupol, which has been controlled by Russian troops since May, after negotiations between Ankara and Moscow to allow war-blocked grain to leave.
Millions of tons of grain are piling up in Ukrainian ports, causing famine in many countries and skyrocketing prices around the world.
Ukraine attributes the food crisis to Russia’s blockade of ports in the Black Sea. Moscow says the crisis is a result of Western sanctions that have curtailed its trade with the rest of the world.
The UN is trying to broker a deal, but demands blocking of Ukrainian ports.
“Security remains a key element of Ukraine’s position,” said Oleg Nikolenko, spokesman for the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry.
To climb
Russia warned that Lithuania’s restrictions on rail traffic with Russia’s Kaliningrad region would have “serious” consequences for the Baltic nation, which is both a NATO and EU member.
Russian enclave, 1600 kilometers from Moscow, between Lithuania, Poland and the Baltic Sea.
In turn, Lithuania assures that it is limited to complying with European sanctions against Russia for the invasion of Ukraine.
Estonia, another Baltic republic that borders Russia, has accused Moscow of accelerating war rhetoric ahead of next week’s NATO summit.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky will attend the meeting via videoconference, according to the Spanish Foreign Ministry.
source: Noticias
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