Russian troops are engaged in heavy fighting supported by widespread artillery fire as they launch a major offensive for Ukraine's Donetsk region, Ukrainian officials said, a day after Moscow declared victory in the neighbouring province of Luhansk. Donetsk and Luhansk comprise the Donbas, the industrialised eastern part of Ukraine that has seen the biggest battle in Europe for generations. Russia says it wants to wrest control of the entire Donbas from Ukraine on behalf of Moscow-backed separatists in two self-proclaimed people's republics.
The governor of the last remaining eastern province partly under Ukraine's control urged his more than 350,000 residents to flee as Russia escalated its offensive and air alerts were issued across nearly the entire country. Governor Pavlo Kyrylenko said that getting people out of Donetsk province is necessary to save lives and enable the Ukrainian army better to defend towns from the Russian advance.
In Brussels, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg and the foreign ministers of Sweden and Finland hailed July 5 as "historic", after they kicked off accession procedures for the two countries that will expand the military alliance to 32 members. "The membership of both Finland and Sweden will not only contribute to our own security but to the collective security of the alliance," said Finland's Pekka Haavisto, after protocols were signed launching the required ratification process. Sweden and Finland both announced their intention to drop decades of military non-alignment and become part of NATO in the wake of Russia invading Ukraine in February.
Explained | Is NATO stronger after Ukraine invasion?
Here are the latest updates:
7 killed as Russia pounds eastern Ukraine region of Donetsk
A Ukrainian official says Russian shelling has killed seven civilians over the past 24 hours and wounded 25 more in the eastern Donetsk province, where Russia has stepped up its offensive in recent days.
Donetsk governor Pavlo Kyrylenko said in a Telegram post on Wednesday morning that two people were killed in Avdiivka, one in Sloviansk, one in Krasnohorivka, and one in Kurakhove.
“Every crime will be punished,” he wrote. - AP
EU chief warns of danger of complete cut-off of Russian gas
European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen said Wednesday that the 27-nation Europe Union needs to make emergency plans to prepare for a complete cut-off of Russian gas in the wake of the Kremlin’s war in Ukraine.
The EU has already imposed sanctions on Russia, including on some energy supplies, and is gearing away from Kremlin-controlled deliveries, but Ms. von der Leyen said the bloc needed to be ready for shock disruptions coming from Moscow.
“We also need to prepare now for further disruption of gas supply and even a complete cut-off of Russian gas supply,” Ms. von der Leyen told the EU legislature in Strasbourg, France. - AP
Russian foreign minister stops in Vietnam ahead of G20
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov visited Vietnam on Wednesday as part of an effort to bolster ties with a country that has not openly condemned its invasion of Ukraine.
Mr. Lavrov, on his way to the Indonesian island of Bali for a G20 meeting, sought to strengthen ties with Vietnam, which also has a strong relationship with the United States.
Mr. Lavrov is currently on a trip to Asia to seek support amid his country’s diplomatic isolation by the West and punishing sanctions levelled over its invasion of Ukraine. He had visited Mongolia a day before arriving in Vietnam’s capital Hanoi. Mongolia also retains ties with Moscow but has burgeoning relations with Washington.
The visit comes as the two countries marked 10 years since expanding their relationship to a strategic partnership. - AP
U.S., allies urge suspension of Russia from sport federations
The United States and a range of allies called on Tuesday for Russian and Belarusian national governing bodies of sports to be suspended from international sport federations, due to Russia's invasion of Ukraine. The Russian embassy in the United States described the move as "Russophobic" and said "sports should stay out of politics."
"Using it as an instrument to exert pressure and settle scores directly violates the basic principles of the Olympic movement and is contrary to the spirit of competitiveness as well as healthy competition," it said in a Facebook post.
The Russian response came hours after the U.S. State Department issued the joint statement with allies, in which they also urged sports organisations to consider suspending the broadcasting of competitions into Russia and Belarus. - Reuters
G20 meeting may lead to wider divisions over war in Ukraine
Foreign ministers from the world’s largest nations are looking to address the war in Ukraine and its impact on global energy and food security when they meet in Indonesia this week. Yet instead of providing unity, the talks may well exacerbate existing divides over the Ukraine conflict.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi are set to attend the Group of 20 meeting in the Indonesian resort of Bali, which will set the stage for a summit of G20 leaders at the same venue in November.
It will mark the first time Mr. Blinken and Mr. Lavrov have been in the same room, let alone the same city, since January. There’s no indication the two will meet separately, but even without a one-on-one with Mr. Lavrov, Mr. Blinken could find himself in some difficult discussions. - AP
Ruined Lysychansk eerily silent, residents remain in bomb shelters, after fall to Russia
Local residents sit at the entrance to a glass factory bomb shelter during Ukraine-Russia conflict in the city of Lysychansk in the Luhansk Region, Ukraine on July 5, 2022. | Photo Credit: Reuters
Lysychansk was once a city of 100,000 people in Ukraine’s eastern Luhansk region, but it now lies in ruins after its fall to Russian forces with many residents still living in bomb shelters and basements. The city was eerily quiet on Tuesday with scorched buildings, overturned vehicles and rubble a testament to the ferocity of the battle it has endured.
Tatiana Glushenko, a 45-year-old Lysychansk resident, told Reuters there were people still in basements and bomb shelters, including children and the elderly. Ms. Glushenko said she and her family had decided to stay in Lysychansk on worries about safety in other parts of Ukraine.
“All of Ukraine is being shelled: western Ukraine, central Ukraine, Dnipro, Kyiv, everywhere. So we decided not to risk our lives and stay here, at home at least,” she said. - Reuters
Ukrainian governor urges evacuation of 350,000 residents
The governor of the last remaining eastern province partly under Ukraine’s control urged his more than 350,000 residents to flee as Russia escalated its offensive and air alerts were issued across nearly the entire country.
‘Massive’ Russian shelling on Ukraine’s Sloviansk: mayor
Russian forces are pounding Sloviansk with “massive” shelling, its mayor said on Tuesday, as the eastern Ukrainian city becomes Moscow’s next target in its campaign in the Donbas region.
India, Russia share a vision of how the world should develop: Ambassador Alipov
The proposal for expansion of BRICS received “principled support” at the 14th BRICS summit that was hosted by China during June 23-24, said Russia’s ambassador to India Denis Alipov.
