Ukraine: Volodymyr Zelensky warns of increased risk of “cruel” Russian provocations

Russia could “do something particularly disgusting” and “cruel” next week in Ukraine, when the latter celebrates its Independence Day, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky warned on Saturday night.

“Russia could go out of its way to do something particularly disgusting, particularly cruel,” Volodymyr Zelensky said in his traditional speech.

“One of the main objectives of the enemy is to humiliate us”, “sow discouragement, fear and conflict”, but “we must be strong enough to resist any provocation” and “make the occupiers pay for their terror”, he said. additional.

Curfew from August 23 to 25

Ukraine celebrates its independence from the USSR in 1991 on August 24. This year, this date will also mark the six months of the Russian invasion that killed tens of thousands of people and caused massive destruction in this country.

In this context, the governor of the Kharkiv region, in the center-east of the country, already announced on Saturday a prolonged curfew scheduled from the night of August 23 to the morning of August 25.

“Let us not allow any provocation to the enemy. Let’s be as vigilant as possible during our independence day,” Governor Oleg Synegoubov argued on Telegram.

Civilians killed in the Donetsk region

After failing to take Kyiv, the Russians concentrated their efforts on the industrial east and agricultural south of the Ukraine. The pro-kyiv governor of the Donetsk region, Pavlo Kyrylenko, reported on Sunday that four civilians were killed and two others wounded the day before by the Russians in this territory. In the Kharkiv region, two civilians were injured in Russian shelling overnight, the State Service for Emergency Situations said.

The Odessa region in the south was hit by five Russian Kalibr-type cruise missiles launched from the Black Sea, regional administration spokesman Sergei Bratchouk said. Two were shot down by air defense and another three hit a silo with no casualties, he added.

“L’ennemi tente de poursuivre son offensive dans la région de Donetsk” et a réussi à occuper une partie de la localité Blagodatné dans la région de Mykolaïv, dans le sud, a de son côté declared l’armée ukrainienne dans son rapport matinal sur Facebook. He also warned of the risk of Russian attacks from Moscow’s ally Belarus.