- Russia describes departure from Snake Island as a “gesture of goodwill”
- Most precarious situation in Donbas for Ukraine
- Russian missiles hit apartments near the port of Odessa
Kyiv, July 1 (Reuters) – Russian missiles hit an apartment building and resort near the port of Odessa in Ukraine’s Black Sea on Friday, killing at least 17 people and injuring dozens more. said the Ukrainian authorities.
Thousands of civilians have died since Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24 in what Ukraine says is an unprovoked war of aggression. Russia denies attacking civilians and says it only affects military infrastructure in what it calls a “special operation” to eliminate dangerous nationalists.
With its ground forces concentrated in the eastern Ukrainian industrial region of Donbas, Russia has more than doubled the number of missile attacks nationwide in the past two weeks, using inaccurate Soviet-era missiles for more than half of the attacks, according to a Ukrainian. brigadier general. Read more
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A missile has hit a nine-story building in the city of Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi around 1 am (22.00 GMT on Thursday), said the Ukrainian Ministry of Emergencies. It also caused a fire in the building of an annex store.
Serhiy Bratchuk, a spokesman for the Odessa regional administration, told Ukrainian state television that a rescue operation was underway as some people were buried under the rubble after part of the building collapsed.
Another missile struck a tourist facility, Bratchuk said, killing at least three people, including a child, and injuring one person.
Reuters was unable to independently confirm details of the incident.
The attack came after Russia said on Thursday it had decided to withdraw from Snake Island as a “gesture of goodwill” to show that it did not obstruct UN attempts to open a humanitarian corridor that allowed the shipment of grain from Ukraine.
Ukraine said it had expelled Russian forces from the Black Sea outcrop after an artillery and missile assault, with President Volodymyr Zelenskiy hailing a strategic victory.
“It still doesn’t guarantee security. It still doesn’t guarantee the enemy won’t return,” he said in his nightly video address. “But this significantly limits the actions of the occupants. Step by step, we will move them away from our sea, our land and our sky.”
Instead, however, Ukrainian forces were desperately waiting in the city of Lysychansk.
Russian artillery bombarded from different directions as the Russian army approached from various sides, regional governor Serhiy Gaidai told Ukrainian television.
“The superiority in the firepower of the occupants is still very evident,” Zelenskiy said. “They just brought all their reserves to hit us.”
Russian forces have been trying to encircle Lysychansk since they captured Sievierodonetsk, on the opposite side of the Siverskyi Donets River, last week after weeks of heavy fighting.
In Sievierodonetsk, residents have come out of the basements and are sweeping the ruins of their ruined city.
“Almost all of the city’s infrastructure is destroyed. We have been living without gas, electricity and water since May,” Sergei Oleinik, a 65-year-old resident, told Reuters. “We’re glad this is over, and maybe maybe reconstruction will begin and we’ll get back to a more or less normal life.”
SUPPORT IN UKRAINE
Despite ceding ground and suffering heavy losses in the eastern Donbas in recent weeks, Ukraine expects to inflict enough damage to deplete Russia’s advancing army.
Ukraine’s Western allies have been sending weapons and the government received another boost with the United States saying they would provide $ 800 million more in weapons and military aid. Read more
U.S. President Joe Biden, speaking after a NATO summit in Madrid, said the United States and its allies were united to confront Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“I don’t know how it will end, but it will not end with Russia defeating Ukraine,” Biden told a news conference. “We will support Ukraine for as long as it takes.”
In addition to providing weapons, the United States and its allies have imposed sanctions on Russia and many Western companies have withdrawn or plan to do so.
Russia has taken control of some assets and on Thursday moved to create a new company to take over the giant Sakhalin-2 gas and oil project at its eastern end, eliminating the shares of Japanese companies that own a part of the project. Read more
SMOKE AND FIRE
Ukrainian forces in the southern district of the joint command of the Ukrainian armed forces killed 35 Russian soldiers and put out of action two tanks and four armored vehicles, the Ukrainian army said in a statement on Facebook.
“The Ukrainian armed forces not only maintain lines of defense, but also participate in successful operations aimed at freeing the occupied cities in the Kherson region from invaders,” Kriviy Rih regional governor Oleksandr Vilkul told Telegram, and he added that Ukrainian troops had recaptured the city of Potyomkin. .
Reuters was unable to immediately verify the battlefield’s claims.
Snake Island was recaptured by Ukraine after weeks in which the momentum of the four-month conflict appeared to be shifting in favor of Russia.
Ukrainian Brigadier General Oleksii Hromov said Ukrainian forces had not occupied the island but would.
Russia denies having blocked Ukrainian ports and attributes food shortages to Western sanctions that it says limit its exports.
Speaking in Moscow on Thursday, Indonesian leader Joko Widodo offered to be a diplomatic bridge between Putin and his Ukrainian counterpart and said he hoped global food and fertilizer supply lines could be restored.
“I am very grateful to President Putin who said before that he will offer a security guarantee for food and fertilizer supplies from both Russia and Ukraine. This is good news,” he said. Read more
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Reuters office reports; Written by Lincoln Feast; Editing by Stephen Coates, Robert Birsel
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