Russian forces said Sunday they had struck a site in western Ukraine storing large amounts of weapons supplied by the United States and European countries, as the battle intensified for the key eastern city of Severodonetsk.
A rocket attack on the Western Ukrainian city of Chortkiv has partly destroyed a military facility and injured 22 people, the governor of the Ternopil region said in an online briefing on Sunday.
Ukraine remains in control of the Azot chemical plant in Sievierodonetsk where hundreds of civilians are sheltering, the region’s governor said on Sunday.
The European Commission will provide a clear signal next week on Ukraine‘s EU candidate status bid, its chief Ursula von der Leyen has said, as fighting rages in the east and south of the country.
Here are the latest updates:
Industrial zone under heavy Russian fire in Ukraine's Sievierodonetsk: Governor
An industrial zone where about 500 civilians are sheltering is under heavy artillery fire from Russian forces, the regional governor said on Monday.
Serhiy Gaidai, governor of the Luhansk region in eastern Ukraine that includes Sievierodonetsk, said on Facebook that Russian forces controlled about 70% of the city and fighting there was fierce. - Reuters
The battle of Donbas could prove decisive in Ukraine war
Day after day, Russia is pounding the Donbas region of Ukraine with relentless artillery and air raids, making slow but steady progress to seize the industrial heartland of its neighbour.
With the conflict now in its fourth month, it's a high-stakes campaign that could dictate the course of the entire war.
If Russia prevails in the battle of Donbas, it will mean that Ukraine loses not only land but perhaps the bulk of its most capable military forces, opening the way for Moscow to grab more territory and dictate its terms to Kyiv. A Russian failure could lay the grounds for a Ukrainian counteroffensive -- and possibly lead to political upheaval for the Kremlin. - PTI
Ukrainian forces pushed back from centre of Severodonetsk: Kyiv
Ukraine said on Monday that its forces have been pushed back from the centre of the eastern city of Severodonetsk, where fighting with Russia has raged for weeks.
"The enemy, with support of artillery, carried out assault operations in the city of Severodonetsk, had partial success, pushed our units away from the city centre," the Ukrainian military said on Facebook.
The local governor, Sergiy Gaiday, said "the Russians were partially successful at night" in the city. - AFP
Russia’s former PM says Putin ‘out of it’, Ukraine war could last two years
He was Vladimir Putin's first prime minister but Mikhail Kasyanov never in his worst nightmares imagined that his former boss would unleash a full-scale war on Ukraine.
The 64-year-old, who championed close ties with the West as prime minister, said that, like many other Russians, he did not believe in the weeks ahead of the war that it would actually happen.
Mr. Kasyanov said he had left Russia because of the war and was living in Europe but he declined to disclose his location out of concern for his safety.
Mr. Kasyanov said he "categorically" disagreed with French President Emmanuel Macron's suggestion that Putin should not be humiliated. - AFP
Fired over Ukraine posts, Russian lecturer fights to keep teaching
In the bedroom of his modest apartment in the southern Russian city of Volgograd, ex-university lecturer Roman Melnichenko has two bags packed: one if he goes to prison, the other if he has to flee.
Melnichenko taught law in Volgograd, known as Stalingrad in Soviet times, for 25 years before he was fired in April for speaking out against Russia's military action in Ukraine.
He is battling in court for the right to keep teaching, while facing other legal troubles after he was charged with spreading "false" information about the conflict. - AFP
Canada decries official's visit to Russian embassy event
It was "unacceptable" for a Canadian official to have attended Russia Day celebrations at the country's embassy in Canada, foreign affairs minister Melanie Joly said on Sunday.
A deputy protocol chief in Canada's global affairs department, Yasemin Heinbecker, attended Friday's event, along with representatives of Egypt, Pakistan and some African nations, the Globe and Mail newspaper said in a report
"No Canadian representative should have attended the event hosted at the Russian embassy and no Canadian representative will attend this kind of event again," Ms. Joly said in a Twitter post. - Reuters
Moscow-backed officials try to solidify rule in Ukraine
Kremlin-installed officials in occupied southern Ukraine celebrated Russia Day on Sunday and began issuing Russian passports to residents in one city who requested them, as Moscow sought to solidify its rule over captured parts of the country.
At one of the central squares in the city of Kherson, Russian bands played a concert to celebrate Russia Day, the holiday that marks Russia’s emergence as a sovereign state after the collapse of the Soviet Union, according to Russia’s state news agency RIA Novosti. - AP
End of an era as Russia's McDonald's reopens under new name
An employee stands in front of the menu board of the Russian version of a former McDonald’s restaurant before the opening ceremony, in Moscow on June 12, 2022. | Photo Credit: AFP
The restaurant that launched McDonald's in Russia in 1990, heralding Moscow's opening after decades of Soviet rule, reopened Sunday with a new name and logo in a potent reminder of the upheaval sparked by the conflict in Ukraine.
The U.S. fast-food giant announced on May 16 that it would exit Russia in the wake of its Ukraine offensive.
In Moscow's Pushkin Square on Sunday, dozens of people gathered outside the Russian incarnation of the fast-food restaurant, "Vkusno i tochka" ("Delicious. Full Stop"), well before the official noon (0900 GMT) opening. - AFP
Indian students can continue studies in Russia: Embassy official
Universities in Russia are ready to accept Indian students whose education in Ukranian universities was disrupted by the ongoing military operation in Ukraine, a top Russian Embassy official said here on Sunday.
Interacting with media persons, Roman Babushkin, Deputy Chief of Mission at the Russian Embassy in New Delhi, said students could approach the Russian Houses in India for assistance in this regard.
The education system followed by the two countries (Russia and Ukraine) are similar, which makes it possible for the students to resume their studies in Russian institutions, according to Mr. Babushkin.
Sri Lanka PM Wickremesinghe says he’s open to Russian oil
Sri Lanka may be compelled to buy more oil from Russia as the island nation hunts desperately for fuel amid an unprecedented economic crisis, the newly appointed prime minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said.
Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said he would first look to other sources but would be open to buying more crude from Moscow.
Western nations largely have cut off energy imports from Russia in line with sanctions over its war on Ukraine. - AP
Russia says it destroyed depot with Western weapons in Ukraine
Russian forces fired cruise missiles to destroy a large depot containing U.S. and European weapons in western Ukraine's Ternopil region, Interfax reported on Sunday, as street fighting raged in the eastern city of Sievierodonetsk.
The governor of the Ternopil region said a rocket attack on the city of Chortkiv fired from the Black Sea had partly destroyed a military facility, injuring 22 people. A local official said there were no weapons stored there.
Reuters could not independently confirm the differing accounts. - Reuters
COMMents
SHARE