Missiles at a tank farm on Russian territory. Moscow accuses: «Launched by two Ukrainian helicopters». Kyiv answers: “That’s not true, false accusations.” In a remote border town Belgorodshift the scenario of it war, which seems almost reversed, with the Ukrainian army not only repulsing the Russians from the Kyiv area, but also striking across the enemy’s borders. Meanwhile last night, in the south, the Russia hit the Odessa region with three Iskander ballistic missiles, according to local authorities there are casualties. “We saw the traces of the rockets, there were three, they probably came from Crimea,” says Ugo Poletti, director and editor of a newspaper in the Black Sea city. Meanwhile, the White House spokesman announced that the US was providing Ukraine with “defense supplies in the event of a Russian chemical weapons attack.”
RECONSTRUCTION
But what happened to Belgorod? Going back to yesterday at 5.51 (4.51 in Italy). In the darkness of dawn on the UkraineRussia border, two Mi24 helicopters fly. Forty kilometers beyond the border, in the direction of Moscow, fly over eight major oil fields owned by the stateowned Rosneft. They launch missiles, hit the tanks, dawn lights up. Explosions, towers of fire about ten meters high. The alarm goes off, the gigantic fire is only extinguished after thirteen hours, there are no casualties. It all takes place on the outskirts of Belgorod, a city of just under 400,000 on Russian territory. From there to Kharkiv, which is already in Ukraine (and has an incredible partnership with Belgorod), it’s less than an hour’s drive. But what happened yesterday seems extraordinary because it would be the first time that the Ukrainians would defeat the invaders on their territory. But did the military in Kyiv really act? The Russians have no doubts about that. Dmitry Peskov, spokesman for the Kremlin, said: “The attack on the tank farm will strain negotiations, it will not create favorable conditions”.
The Russian Defense Ministry is lavish in its details: “The raid was carried out by two Mi24s from the Ukrainian armed forces.” The governor of the region confirms this thesis: “The two helicopters entered Russian territory at low altitude. There are no victims ». According to Tass, area firefighters dispatched 170 men and 50 vehicles to tame the blaze, which was filmed by various smartphones with videos rebooted on social networks. As far as the Russian version. And the Ukrainian government confirmed? Use an ambiguous, halfway formula. According to reports in the newspaper Ukrainska Pravda, Defense Ministry spokesman Oleksandr Motuzyanyk stated at a press conference: “Today the Ukrainian state is conducting a defense operation to repel the aggression of the Russian army on our territory. This does not mean that Ukraine should be responsible for all mistakes, all disasters and all events in the Russian Federation.
DOUBT
Dmytro Kuleba, Ukraine’s foreign minister, does not deviate from the same linguistic device: “I can neither confirm nor deny the claim that Ukraine is involved because I do not have all the military information.” However, the numerous videos shot show the helicopters and the explosion, it is hard to believe that it was an accident. In summary, according to the Moscow version at least, the Ukrainians are fighting back for the first time since the start of the invasion ordered by Putin on Russian territory. And if it is true that the Russian army is reorganizing and repositioning to focus its efforts east and south, it is also true that the Ukrainians are gradually recapturing towns or humble villages that have come under Russian control the occupying army seemed to have guessed. The source is of course biased, but the Ukrainska Pravda newspaper summed it up last night, quoting the General Staff: “Ukrainian armed forces have liberated 30 small towns. The main Russian efforts are aimed at defending previously occupied lines, regrouping and withdrawing troops in Belarus to restore combat capability. At the same time, they are moving other troops to the east ». For example, Anatolii Fedoruk, mayor of Bucha, a town of 35,000 people 60 kilometers north of Kyiv, confirmed yesterday that the Ukrainian recapture had taken place the day before: “The 31 liberation from the Russian occupiers thanks to our armed forces. It’s a happy day.”
However, in the Kyiv region the situation is still complicated. The mayor of the capital, Vitaliy Klitschko, denounced: “Huge fighting is still going on in the north and east of my city. The risk of death is very high.” An exchange of prisoners between Russians and Ukrainians also took place yesterday. “We brought back 86 of our soldiers, including 15 women,” announced Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk. All of this is happening while “Ukrainian forces are pushing back Russian troops northeast and northwest of Kyiv,” said Oleksiy Arestovych, adviser to Ukrainian President Zelenskyy. Gradually, the Russians are moving away (or have been removed) from the capital. And yesterday the President of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola, was able to visit Kyiv, who wrote on Twitter: “We spoke with the Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal about the need for ever heavier sanctions”. He also told Ukrainians: “The EU recognizes your European ambitions and you can count on the full support of the European Parliament to achieve this. We will help you rebuild your cities when this illegal, unprovoked and useless war is over. It must be said that the Russian offensive in the east continues, does not stop, and the decision to focus military efforts on Donbass is confirmed. On the Black Sea, in Mykailov, the death toll in the recent attack on the regional palace (at least thirty) is increasing. And most importantly, Russia is weaving a diplomatic web to emerge from isolation.
INDIA
Sergey Lavrov, Russia’s foreign minister, received important support yesterday: On a visit to India, the Modi government received even clearer support, much more circumspect and callous, from China. Lavrov was also received by Prime Minister Modi and underscored New Delhi’s refusal to explicitly condemn Moscow’s military action. Lavrov: “We also discussed the possibility of circumventing Western sanctions in order to continue guaranteeing RussianIndian trade.” The Guardian also noted that the Indian government has instead appointed British government official Elizabeth Truss, who is also on a mission in India located, “snubbed”. However, what matters at this point are the ongoing negotiations, which have never stopped beyond the two propaganda actions. Yesterday, Turkish President Erdogan, the protagonist of the mediation, called Putin and suggested that he “come to Turkey to meet Zelenskyy”.
Erdogan hopes to set the date of the meeting between the two presidents in these hours. Negotiations continued online yesterday, according to Suspline. Lavrov from India made this analysis: “The Ukrainian side has written its vision of the agreements to be reached, these agreements must first be formalized. We are preparing an answer. Progress has been made above all in recognizing that Ukraine cannot be a country in the NATO bloc. Ukraine has shown much more understanding for Crimea and Donbass ». This war causes new deaths and suffering every day, with the lost lives being the most dramatic part of this story. But there is more. UNESCO Deputy Director General Ernesto Ottone Ramirez explains: Since the beginning of the Russian invasion, at least 53 cultural sites have been damaged or partially destroyed; including 29 churches, 16 historical buildings, four museums and four monuments.
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