Day of Russian “bestial savagery” over regions of Ukraine, as Zelenskyy describes it. Moscow soldiers attacked the Kiev region with drones, hitting a gymnasium and two dormitories. At least 7 people were killed in the raid, while in the town of Zaporizhia at least 33 people were killed, including one dead and three children wounded. Here the Russian bombs hit residential buildings and it is feared that more bodies have been left behind under the rubble.
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To express his closeness to the front-line fighters, Zelenskyy paid a visit to the Ukrainian soldiers deployed in the Bakhmut area. The disputed city of Donetsk “is standing, the defense forces are holding,” says the Ukrainian leader. The version of the local pro-Russians, who announced the confiscation of all paved roads from Bakhmut by the Russian army, was different. Zelensky praised his “heroes” before stopping in Kharkiv, where he presented the mayor with the honorary award “Hero City of Ukraine”.
Meanwhile, London’s announcement that it would send armor-piercing uranium shells to Kiev continues to cause a stir. Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov called their supply “another step towards escalation”. The UK, through the mouth of Foreign Secretary Cleverley, has assured that “there is no nuclear escalation. The only country in the world that talks about nuclear issues is Russia.” And he added, as if to justify what was announced yesterday by British MP Annabelle Goldie: “Depleted uranium shells are not nuclear munitions, they are purely conventional munitions”.
The Ukrainian ambassador to Italy, Melnyk, also wanted to comment on weapons in Kiev. “To ask for peace in Ukraine and a halt to military aid is only playing into the hands of one side, the more heavily armed, namely Russia. It means demanding the surrender of Ukraine,” he warned, addressing the critical voices in the parliamentary issue.
At their meeting in Moscow, Xi and Putin are said to have also spoken of peace in Ukraine, which is proposed in Beijing’s plan. Hypothesis dampened by the Kremlin just a day later: the two had not “discussed” the Chinese plan, but only “exchanged it”. The visit of the Chinese head of state to Russia was also an occasion for a new Kremlin criticism of the West, which was guilty of a “deeply hostile reaction” to the meeting of the two heads of state.