As Russia’s invasion of Ukraine enters its 23rd day, the Russian military claims to have fired several hypersonic missiles at Ukrainian targets.
“Russia has admitted to firing hypersonic weapons to destroy a missiles and weapons depot in western Ukraine,” the UK newspaper Independent reported. “The “dagger” missiles, that can evade defence systems, were deployed for the first time during Russia’s invasion to target the underground storage site in the Ivano-Frankivsk region – an official said.”
The dagger or “Kinzhal,” as the missile is known in Russian, is nuclear-capable and has a range up to 2,000 km, media reports say.
Meanwhile, the Russian ground offensive continues on several front. The invading forces have suffered heavy casualties, with the Ukrainian military claiming to have killed the fifth Russian general since the invasion began on February 24.
The media reports suggest that the Ukrainian defenders have managed to halt the Russian assault on Kyiv. The invading Russian forces, which were advancing in a pincer movement to encircle the capital city, appear to have come to a grinding halt.
The UK TV channel SkyNews reported:
Russia’s two main routes for attacking Kyiv have reportedly been blocked, according to CNN, which cited an update from the Ukrainian military.
Oleksandr Hruzevych, deputy chief of staff, reportedly said Russia forces trying to encircle the capital on both sides of the Dnipro river – which divides the city north to south – have been halted.
“As of today, the enemy has been stopped at a distance of almost 70 kilometres (about 43 miles) from the city’s right bank, which makes it impossible to carry out fire, except for rocket fire. On the left bank, the advance has [also] been stopped. The enemy is cynically shooting at our infrastructure facilities. [But] the main ways of attack are blocked,” he said on Friday.
In an update later in the day, the Ukraine defence ministry confirmed that Russia’s main tasks of encircling Kyiv “have not been fulfilled”.
The Russian forces in the south are trying to cut Ukraine’s access to the sea. They have besieged key port cities and claimed to have made advance on multiple fronts.
Early Sunday morning, the Ukrainian defense ministry admitted losing access to the Sea of Azov, a strategic body of water connected to the Black Sea by the Krech Strait. The sea, home to Ukraine’s main port of Mariupol, is of great economic and military significance to the country.
The setback is ‘temporary,’ Ukrainian military sources claimed. “The occupiers have partially succeeded in the Donetsk operational district, temporarily depriving Ukraine of access to the Sea of Azov,” country’s defense ministry admitted.
The Ukrainian government on Saturday said that Russian forces have agreed on 10 corridors for allowing safe passage to the residents of the encircled cities. In past, Russians military had reportedly fired at such humanitarian corridors violating similar agreements.
The Associated Press reported the latest agreement:
Ukraine’s Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk announced Saturday that 10 humanitarian corridors have been agreed on with the Russians.
They include a corridor from the besieged port city of Mariupol, several in the Kyiv region and several in the Luhansk region.
She also announced plans to deliver humanitarian aid to the city of Kherson, which is currently under control of the Russian forces.
In his nightly video address, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Russian forces are blockading the largest cities with the goal of creating such miserable conditions that Ukrainians will cooperate. He said the Russians are preventing supplies from reaching surrounded cities in central and southeastern Ukraine.
Satellite images on Friday from Maxar Technologies showed a long line of cars leaving Mariupol as people tried to evacuate. Zelenskyy said more than 9,000 people were able to leave the city in the past day.
The Friday night call between President Joe Biden and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping ended in an impasse.
The Chinese leader blamed President Biden for the conflict. “He who tied the bell to the tiger must take it off,” Xi told Biden according to an official Chinese readout.
The mainstream media had pinned great hopes on Biden’s telephone diplomacy. Biden used to call to “dissuade his Chinese counterpart from assisting Russia in its war on Ukraine, a pivotal moment that could determine the trajectory of the bloody conflict,” CNN reported.
Beijing has refused to recognize the latest round of U.S. and Western sanctions on Russia. Chinese state-run news outlets are churning out pro-Russian propaganda while reporting the war in Ukraine.
With Russian military casualties mounting in Ukraine, Russian President Vladimir Putin rallied the nation at a Moscow stadium on the anniversary marking country’s annexation of Crimea.
“We have not had unity like this for a long time,” President Putin told an audience of more than 80,000 at the stadium.
The pro-Putin crowd longed for the soviet imperialist glory. “The event included patriotic songs such as “Made in the U.S.S.R.,” with the opening lines “Ukraine and Crimea, Belarus and Moldova, it’s all my country,” The Associated Press noted.
The BBC reported the celebration:
Eight years after Russian troops seized Ukraine’s southern region of Crimea, the event is being celebrated with flag-waving crowds in Moscow’s Luzhniki stadium and special lessons in schools.
President Vladimir Putin made a special appearance before the crowd. State workers said they had been told to take part.
In schools, teachers held lessons marking the “Crimean spring”. The Russian army has used its bases in Crimea to seize towns and cities on Ukraine’s south coast. (…)
Officials said more than 200,000 people had gathered at the stadium, although the numbers could not be verified. The stadium’s official capacity is 81,000, but there were also large crowds outside.
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