Day 103 of Russia’s full-scale invasion. Vijeta mentioned that Russia bombed Kyiv as Putin continues to warn the West not to supply Ukraine with weapons.
Russian President Vladimir Putin claimed the West is at fault for the food crisis but Russia bombed many grain silos in a port city over the weekend.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy visited two cities close to where Russia is bombing nonstop:
President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Sunday he visited Lysychansk and Soledar, two cities very close to some of the most intense fighting on the eastern frontline between Ukrainian troops and Russian forces.The beleaguered city of Lysychansk is just a few miles south of Severodonetsk, where one of the war’s biggest ground battles continues to rage and which Ukraine claims to be regaining more control of.”I went with the head of (my) office to the east. We were in Lysychansk and Soledar,” Mr Zelensky said in his nightly video address, adding he would not elaborate on the visit.In two separate videos released later, Mr Zelensky, dressed in his trademark khaki t-shirt, was seen talking to troops in confined, bunker-like structures, presenting some with awards and addressing others.”What you all deserve is victory – that is the most important thing. But not at any cost,” Mr Zelensky said in one of the videos.The visits were rare outings by the president outside the capital Kyiv since the start of the Russian invasion, and could be the closest to the frontline yet.
Ukraine claimed Russia bombed the All Saints Monastery of Svyatogorsk Lavra, which is located in Tetianivka in eastern Ukraine.
It’s affiliated with the Moscow Patriarchate of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church.
The 17th-century monastery is a historic landmark:
Flames could be seen ripping through the timber walls of a church with onion domes in footage posted by Zelenskiy on his official Telegram channel.”Russian artillery struck the Svyatohirsk Lavra in the Donetsk region again today. Destroyed All Saints Monastery. It was consecrated in 1912. It was first destroyed during the Soviet era. Later it was rebuilt to be burned by the Russian army,” the Ukrainian leader wrote.Zelenskyy called for Russia to be expelled from the United Nations’ cultural agency UNESCO and said there had been no military targets present at the site.”Every church burned by Russia in Ukraine, every school blown up, every destroyed memorial proves that Russia has no place in UNESCO,” calling for Moscow to be expelled from the main cultural body of the United Nations.Moscow has repeatedly denied targeting civilians and Russia’s Defence Ministry denied involvement in the shelling of the church, accusing Ukrainian troops of setting it on fire.
Great news! Ukraine has pushed back Russia to the eastern outskirts of Severodonetsk:
Ukrainian forces managed to retake parts of the city of Severodonetsk in a counterattack, as they try to hold off the Russian offensive in eastern Ukraine while Kyiv waits for new long-range rocket systems from the U.S.The close-quarters combat in Severodonetsk makes it harder for Russian troops to unleash artillery against Ukrainian forces. The artillery barrages have enabled Russian forces to crush Ukrainian defenses and make steady gains on the ground. Elsewhere, Russia has used missiles and rockets to hit farther afield, including with a strike on Kyiv on Sunday.Ukrainian leaders are hoping that the arrival of heavier weaponry from the West will enable them to turn the tide against better-armed Russian forces in the eastern Donbas region. The Biden administration last week said it would provide Ukraine with a guided-rocket system capable of striking targets from as far as 48 miles.
The West is at fault for everything:
In an interview with state TV channel Rossiya-1, conducted Friday and aired in full Sunday, the Russian leader blamed the United States for “injecting large sums of money” into its economy as a means of combating the consequences of the coronavirus pandemic, which led to inflation and an “unfavorable situation in the food market, because first of all, food prices went up.”Putin also blamed “the short-sighted policy of European countries, and above all the European Commission, in the energy sector” as another reason for the crisis in food and energy market.“Among other things, the Europeans did not listen to our urgent requests to preserve long-term contracts for the supply of the same natural gas to European countries, and they also began to (terminate the contracts) … This had a negative impact on the European energy market: Prices crept up. Russia has absolutely nothing to do with it,” he said.As soon as gas prices went up, fertilizer prices “immediately increased, because some of these fertilizers are produced, including at the expense of gas. Everything is interconnected,” Putin added.”But we warned about this, and this has nothing to do with any military operation of Russia,” Putin said.The Kremlin said last week that Moscow is ready to make a “significant contribution” to avoid the food crisis through the export of grain and fertilizers, if the West lifts “politically motivated restrictions” on Russia.
Well, Putin, don’t invade a country that didn’t do anything to you.
Mykolaiv is a Black Sea port city by Russian-held Kherson. It’s by the purple arrow.
Russia attacked the city over the weekend, including a bunch of grain silos. From the BBC:
This region is key to Russian’s strategy to cut off the entire southern coast. A breakthrough here would allow the Kremlin’s forces to approach Odesa – the country’s largest civilian port, 130 km (80 miles) to the west.Vladimir Putin could then complete his land bridge up to Transnistria, the breakaway republic of Moldova.Russian attacks have stepped up in recent weeks, prompting fears that if the Kremlin prevails in Donbas, it will then concentrate its forces in the south and try once again to take Mykolaiv.The city governor, Vitaliy Kim, tells me that the recent air attacks in the south have been aimed at Ukrainian counter-offensives.”Mykoliav, like Kherson, like Mariupol, is a trigger point for the Russians,” he said.”They are disappointed that we are counter-attacking. We have the motivation and the will to win. This is our land and we will do our best.”He is standing outside his former office, the regional administration building, which was ripped apart by a cruise missile in March, killing 36 people.Earlier this week, two people were killed when the Russians shelled an apartment block and a playground.Mr Kim is aware of the risks of staying. “I don’t know what it is any more to live a normal life. I wish very much to end the war but I can’t.”For now, we have only one purpose. And everything, every human resource, money, time is spent only for victory.”
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