Violent clashes between Ukrainian and Russian forces in the eastern Donetsk city of Bakhmut as air raid alerts sounded. In his late night speech, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said they were repelling continued attacks and holding their positions in nearby Soledar in very difficult conditions, adding that Bakhmut “resisted despite everything”. In particular, according to the commander of the Freedom Battalion of the Ukrainian National Guard Yevgeny Oropai at night There were several attacks by the Russian infantry . He said it on Ukrainian TV, quoted by UNIAN. “The Russians are trying to attack massively,” Oropai said. And according to the spokesman for the Eastern Forces Group of the Kiev Army Sergiy Cherevaty, the situation in the territory of the city of Soledar, Donetsk, remains tense. To stabilize the situation, the Ukrainian command sent additional forces and equipment.
That’s what the Ukrainian authorities actually said Army repels continued attacks on Bakhmut and in other cities by the Russian mercenary group Wagner, reports the Guardian. The Ukrainian army said: “The enemy made a new desperate attempt to storm the city of Soledar from different directions, throwing the most professional units of the Wagnerians onto the battlefield.”
The territorial defense headquarters of the self-proclaimed Donetsk Republic announced this morning that Russian forces have liberated the settlement. The tax office reports it. “To date, Bakhmut has been released,” pro-Russians said. Around the city in eastern Ukraine Fierce fighting has been going on for five monthswith Wagner Group mercenaries attacking the Ukrainian defenses to breach the defenses around Bakhmut and the suburb of Soledar, the epicenter of the battle.
Russian troops also launched a missile attack on a market in the city of Shevchenkove in the eastern Kharkiv region: a 60-year-old woman was killed and several other civilians were injured. The head of the regional military administration, Oleh Syniehubov, quoted by Ukrinform, said: “The enemy is again launching missile attacks on the Kharkiv region. A rocket attack on the local market was launched in the Shevchenkove urban settlement of the Kupiansk district. All emergency services are on site.”
The Pope returns to speak of “World War III”. and to call for an “immediate end to this senseless conflict” in Ukraine. Pointing out that “attacks on civilian infrastructure” in this war “lead people to death not only through bombs and violence, but also through hunger and cold”, the Pope recalled in conversation with the ambassadors at Gaudium et Spes that “every warlike Action aimed at the indiscriminate destruction of entire cities or vast swaths of land and their inhabitants is a crime against God and against humanity itself, and must be decidedly and unhesitatingly condemned.”
Meanwhile, German Vice Chancellor and Minister for Economy and Climate Protection Robert Habeck does not rule out that Germany could decide to supply Leopard tanks to Ukraine in the future. This was reported by the Russian agency Tass. “No, of course that can’t be ruled out,” Habeck told ARD when asked about the possibility of making such funds available to Kyiv. “We are studying the situation, we are coordinating our actions with other countries. We will observe how the discussion” on this topic in Germany develops,” said the minister accordingly The dynamics of arms deliveries to Kyiv will change depending on the development of the course of hostilities in Ukraine.
But the Kremlin has warned that supplies of tanks and other weapons to Ukraine announced by several Western countries last week would only “prolong the suffering”. of Ukrainians and would not “change” the balance of power. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters. Last week, the US and Germany said they would supply tanks for the infantry, while France said it would send light tanks to Kyiv.
The Kremlin also denied a new partial mobilization: “Russia is not preparing to lead a new wave of partial mobilization,” said Peskov. “Everything on this subject has been said many times before. You don’t have to pay so much attention to what Telegram channels say in general,” he was quoted as saying by RIA Novosti.