Attacks on Ukrainian cities continue
Several Ukrainian cities were again targeted by Russian air strikes on Sunday night. According to Ukrainian media reports, several heavy explosions shook the capital Kiev, as well as Lutsk, Rivne and Kharkiv. A fuel depot was hit in Lutsk, in the northwest, at night. Air alerts had already been raised in all regions of the country.
“Rocket attacks” against cities
Meanwhile, the Ukrainian leadership has accused the Russian military of “inhumane tactics”. This includes the “partial or total blockade of humanitarian corridors, blockade of besieged cities,” wrote President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s adviser Mykhailo Podoliak on Twitter.
In addition, Russia continues “rocket attacks” against Ukrainian cities. For this, the port city of Mariupol is being bombed. “Russians no longer have a language, humanism or civilization,” Podoliak wrote. “Just rockets and bombs to wipe Ukraine off the map as much as possible.”
Counteroffensive in Cherson
Earlier, among other things, the battle line appeared to be pulling away from the southern Ukrainian city of Mykolaiv, and the bombardment of the city, which had been under siege by the Russian army for weeks, appeared to be waning. Ukrainian soldiers launched a counteroffensive near Cherson, about 80 kilometers to the southeast.
According to eyewitness accounts, around 500 people protested against Russian occupation forces in Cherson itself, the only larger Ukrainian city that has been conquered by Russian troops so far. The peaceful demonstration was stopped with tear gas and smoke grenades, a paramedic told the AFP news agency by telephone.
According to Ukrainian sources, two people were killed by Russian bombing in a village near Cherson. Also, on the outskirts of Kharkov, the Drobyzky Yar Holocaust memorial was damaged, which commemorates the 15,000 Jews killed there by the Nazis. Also in Irpin and around Kiev there were again Russian attacks. In return, the Ukrainian Defense Ministry reported the recapture of a village near the Russian border.
Focus on the “liberation” of the Donbass region?
Russian Deputy Chief of Staff Sergei Rudskoy surprisingly announced on Friday that the army would focus in the future on “liberating” the Donbass region of eastern Ukraine. Until now, the Kremlin’s stated war objective has been to “denazify” all of Ukraine, crush the Ukrainian armed forces and overthrow head of state Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
According to Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk, 1,100 people were evacuated from contested areas of her country on Sunday.