This happens in one moment in which Belarus announced the interception of missiles launched from Kiev, while Russia reported that Ukraine fired three cluster missiles at Belgorod in an attack that killed four people. Lyschansk was the last major city of Lugansk province in the Donbass region of eastern Ukraine to remain in Ukrainian hand. Control of him is an indication of a major Russian advance in the Donbass, something Moscow has focused on since its withdrawal from Kiev.
There were conflicting reports on the state of Lyschansk on Saturday, with Ukraine denying information from Moscow that Russian forces had surrounded the entire city, separated by a river from neighboring Severodonetsk, which Russian forces captured last week. . There are no comments from the Ukrainian side yet in on information relating to the fall of Lyschansk after days of violent clashes.
“Sergei Shoigu, the Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, informed Vladimir Putin of the liberation of the Lugansk People’s Republic,” said the Russian Defense Ministry. in a statement released by local news agencies. A few minutes before the announcement, a spokesman for the Russian Defense Ministry said that in Lysechhansk they were in fighting was going on, while the Ukrainian forces were “completely” surrounded.
https: // www.youtube.com / watch? v = 5cHaMUbgMYI
targeting a Russian city
The Russian announcement came when Moscow reported that its anti-aircraft defenses had shot down three Tochka-U cluster missiles launched by “Ukrainian nationalists” on Belgorod, the Russian city near the Ukrainian border. Belgorod governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said the attack damaged 11 apartment buildings and 39 houses.
Moscow had previously accused Kiev of carrying out strikes on Russian territory, in particularly in the Belgorod region. In turn, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko accused Kiev of “provoking” his country and claimed that his army had intercepted missiles launched by Ukrainian forces against Belarus “about three days ago”.
Belarus is one of Russia’s most important allies and supported the invasion that began on February 24, while Kiev accused it of launching attacks on Ukrainian territory. But Lukashenko denied any role for his country in the cross-border incident. “I repeat, as I said over a year ago, we are not going to fight in Ukraine, “the official Belta news agency said on Saturday.
https: // www.youtube.com / watch? v = T-Rb_uh2zGU
“Battagliero”
Meanwhile, according to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, Russian bombing continued in all of Ukraine in the midst of fierce battles. “Heavy fighting continues along the front line in Donbass,” Zelensky said in a speech on Saturday, adding that “the enemy is intensifying its activity in the Kharkiv region”.
In the Donetsk town of Seversk, a resident told AFP that “the bombing continues day and night”. Donetsk local authorities said two people were killed and three injured, including two children, in a strike against the city of Dopropylya.
The rockets also targeted homes in Slovyansk in central Donbass, killing a woman in her garden and injuring her husband, a neighbor told AFP on Saturday, speaking of shrapnel scattered around the neighborhood. The witness said Friday’s strike is believed to have been carried out with cluster munitions that spread over a large area before exploding and hitting buildings and people outside. And Zelensky put on in guard against complacency in cities that have not suffered as much violence as other cities. “The war isn’t over yet,” she said. “Unfortunately, in some places is becoming more and more brutal and we can’t forget that. “
Need for “major investments”
In his speech, Zelensky also spoke of a conference for the reconstruction of Ukraine that will begin on Monday in Swiss. The leaders of dozens of countries and international organizations will meet in Lugano with the aim of drawing up a road map for the recovery of the war-torn country.
Zelensky said Ukraine’s reconstruction “needs huge investments: billions, new technologies, new institutions and, of course, reforms.” He noted that the war affected ten regions of Ukraine, while many towns and villages had to be “rebuilt” from zero. The roadmap should identify reconstruction needs, including destroyed and damaged infrastructure, Ukraine’s collapsing economy, as well as environmental and social needs. The cost is estimated in hundreds of billions of dollars. Ukraine will also face demands for far-reaching reforms, in particularly as regards the fight against corruption. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen stressed the need for reform and said that the desired EU membership is “within reach” of Ukraine, but she urged Kiev to act on anti-corruption measures. Before the war, Ukraine was a major exporter of agricultural products, but the Russian invasion caused damage to agricultural land, during which Moscow seized, swept or blocked Ukrainian ports, raising fears of food shortages, especially in poor countries. Farmer Sergei Lyubarsky, who owns fields near the first line, warned that the time to harvest the crop of questyear is ending. “We can wait until August 10 at the latest, but after that the beans will dry out and fall to the ground,” she said. Western powers accused Putin of using frozen crops as a weapon to increase pressure on the international community, while Russia was accused of stealing grain.
