I’m back covering Ukraine after two weeks on the road. Vijeta covered the attack on Kyiv by Russia. It’s the first time in weeks that Russia has attacked Kyiv.We learned at least one person died in the attack.
Lysychansk is the last major city in Luhansk held by Ukraine. Russia wants it:
Russian forces were fighting on Monday to achieve one of their strategic objectives in Ukraine as Moscow-backed separatists said they were pushing into Lysychansk, the last major city still held by Ukrainian troops in eastern Luhansk province.Lysychansk’s twin city of Sievierodonetsk fell on Saturday in a victory for Moscow’s campaign to seize the eastern provinces of Luhansk and Donetsk on behalf of pro-Russian separatists.Tass news agency on Sunday quoted a separatist official as saying Moscow’s forces had entered Lysychansk from five directions and were isolating Ukrainian defenders. Reuters could not confirm the report.The General Staff of Ukraine’s Armed Forces said Russian forces were using artillery to try to cut off Lysychansk from the south but made no mention of separatists entering the city.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy asked the G7 leaders to help the war end by the end of 2022:
Zelenskyy “had a very strong message that we must do everything possible to try to end this war before the end of the year,” the sources said. He also stressed the importance of “not lowering the pressure and continuing to sanction Russia massively, heavily”.The West has already adopted several packages of measures since the start of the Russian offensive on Ukraine on 24 February.During his speech, the Ukrainian president “spoke of the harshness of winter” in Ukraine “where it is more difficult to fight”.”At the end of the year, we will enter a situation where positions will be frozen,” the sources said.According to a European official quoted by Reuters, Zelenskyy also called for anti-aircraft defence systems, security guarantees, as well as help to export grain from Ukraine and for reconstruction aid.
A 7-year-old girl lost her father. From The New York Times:
A 7-year-old girl was rescued from the rubble, the authorities said. Her father was killed, and her mother, a Russian citizen, was injured. The top three floors of the nine-story building in the Shevchenkivskyi district were destroyed, they said.“There are people under the rubble,” Vitali Klitschko, the mayor of Kyiv, said on Telegram. “Two victims were hospitalized.”Residents of Kyiv reported four explosions Sunday morning, a day after a barrage of Russian missile strikes across Ukraine. The attacks came as leaders of the Group of 7 of the world’s wealthiest democracies prepared to meet in Germany, and Ukrainian officials said they believed Moscow was attempting to send a message to Ukraine and its Western allies.Ukraine’s foreign minister, Dmytro Kuleba, tweeted that the child rescued on Sunday “was sleeping peacefully in Kyiv until a Russian cruise missile blasted her home.”“Many more around Ukraine are under strikes,” he wrote. “G7 summit must respond with more sanctions on Russia and more heavy arms for Ukraine.”Yuriy Ignat, a spokesman for Ukraine’s Air Force Command, said that Russia had used long-range missiles fired by aircraft flying over the Caspian Sea, which lies more than 900 miles southeast of Kyiv.
Mariupol still has 120,000 trapped in the city. The mayor said it has no water and garbage covers the streets:
Speaking on Friday, Boichenko said that 120,000 residents of the city are trapped, unable to escape. He added that the sanitary situation in the city is becoming critical.
“Garbage has not been taken out since February. Thousands of tons of garbage lie on the street, rotting. The sewer does not work. There is no water,” he said.
Boichenko is no longer physically in the city, but he provides updates on the conditions inside the city from sources and information he receives.
According to those sources, Russian forces have “distanced themselves from the locals because they are afraid of getting infected.”
Boichenko added that he is unsure if diseases may be spreading around the city.
The U.S. and the other six countries in the G7 vowed to ban gold imports from Russia:
Russia is one of the world’s biggest gold producers, and the metal is its second most valuable export after energy products. Most of those exports go to G7 countries, particularly Britain, through the gold trading hub of London.Prime Minister Boris Johnson of Britain said in a statement on Sunday that the actions taken against Russian gold would “directly hit Russian oligarchs and strike at the heart of Putin’s war machine.”“We need to starve the Putin regime of its funding,” he added. “The U.K. and our allies are doing just that.”The gold sanctions follow extensive steps to cut Russian export revenues. The United States banned oil and gas from Russia, and Europe will prohibit most Russian oil while reducing gas imports. The United States, the European Union and their allies have also placed sanctions on Russian officials and other members of the elite and imposed punishments on Russian banks, airlines and other companies.
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