Another day, new attacks. Severodonetsk in the Lugansk region is an “immediate tactical priority” for Russia, which continues to bomb residential areas. In Kharkov, the cemetery was filled with Ukrainian flags – one for each soldier who fell at the front. Zelensky today met with the President of Poland, who showed strong support for the country. Key moments of the 88th day of the war:
– Zelensky extended martial law in the country for three months until August 22.
– The UK Department of Defense has identified the city of Severodonetsk in the Lugansk region in eastern Ukraine as an “immediate tactical priority” for Russia.
– The Russian Ministry of Defense stated that six command posts of the Ukrainian army were destroyed not saturdayof these, three by missiles and three more by air strikes. Over the past 24 hours, Russian troops have bombed 12 residential areas in the Donetsk region in eastern Ukraine, destroying 58 civilian infrastructure, according to Ukrainian authorities.
– The authorities of the Zaporozhye region reported wounded civilians as a result of Russian rocket attacks on the village. Explosions will wake people up in the middle of the night.
– Ukraine can lose up to 100 soldiers per day Fighting in the eastern region, Zelensky said.
– A sea of flags marks the graves of fallen soldiers at the Kharkov cemetery. There has been a military unit at the Bezlyudovsky cemetery for several years, but since the beginning of the invasion in February, more and more soldiers have been buried there. Each grave had a flag.
– Russia has warned that the Arctic region is becoming an “international theater of war,” a trend it has classified as “extremely worrying.” Read here.
– Andrey Shevchik, the mayor appointed by Russia in the occupied city of Energodar, was injured in an explosion and is in intensive care. The city’s mayor-elect, Dmitry Orlov, said no one else was hurt in the blast, suggesting it was a “precise and targeted strike.”
– The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine adopted bill to ban Russian invasion symbolsincluding those containing the letters Z and V,” said deputy Yaroslav Zheleznyak.
– Polish President Andrzej Duda met this Sunday with his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky. In the first personal speech by a foreign leader to parliament in Kyiv since the start of the Russian invasion, Duda thanked Ukraine for protecting Europe from what he called “Russian imperialism.” “The free world is like Ukraine”, he said, adding that recent calls for Kyiv to negotiate with Russian President Vladimir Putin and even give in to some of his demands are troubling.
– Regarding the candidacy for membership in the European Union (EU), Zelensky reiterated his hope that Ukraine will receive candidate status in June. In turn, the Polish President assured: “I won’t rest until Ukraine becomes a member of the European Union”.
– However, this hope collapsed after the statements of the French Minister for European Affairs. “We have to be honest. If you say that Ukraine will join the EU in six months, a year or two, they are lying,” said Clément Bon. “Probably in 15 or 20 years, it will take a long time.”
– Minister of Transport of the Russian Federation Vitaly Savelyev admits that international sanctions have been imposed on Russia affect the logistics from the country.
– The Serbian President has said that Belgrade will avoid joining Western sanctions against Russia as long as possible and will talk to his Russian counterpart to sign a new gas supply agreement.
