The Ukrainian army has reported gaining ground around the second largest city of Kharkiv in the east of the country. “The occupiers are gradually being pushed back from Kharkiv”President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a video message on Wednesday night.
“Several towns were liberated”, stated the Ukrainian General Staff on Facebook. While the Russian army was passing through the city of Kharkiv “even less” could hit with artillery attacks, have the “Intensity of bombing in Kharkiv district increased”.
According to the Ukrainian regional administration, the Russian troops are also leaving behind “death traps”, i.e. mines. According to the regional administration, it runs through Kharkiv “a trail of desolation”. The bodies of 44 civilians were found under the rubble of a destroyed house in the Russian-controlled city of Izyum.
Frequent rocket attacks
The northern and north-eastern parts of Kharkiv have often been the target of Russian rocket attacks in recent weeks. The Russian troops also advanced to within a few kilometers of the city. However, the US Institute for War Research (ISW) said over the weekend that the Ukrainian army was in that part of the country “is making significant progress and is likely to advance to the Russian border in the next few days or weeks”.
While the Ukrainians regain control of lost territories in the north-east, the Russians are gradually advancing about 150 kilometers south-east in the Donbass. The Ukrainian Southern Command reported “merciless” Attacks by Russian forces on homes, farms and power supplies.
Annexation of Kherson?
The authorities deployed by Moscow in the Kherson region announced on Wednesday that they would ask Russia to annex the area. The region should “full part of the Russian Federation” said the deputy head of the military and civil administration of Kherson Kirill Stremusov.
In the Kremlin, this initiative from the lower levels of functionaries was received with reservations.
Battles for the Snake Island
Meanwhile, fighting continues on the strategically important Snake Island in the Black Sea. According to British intelligence, Ukrainian drone strikes have so far prevented Russian troops from dominating the country. Russia is always trying to strengthen its forces on the island near the port city of Odessa, the Ministry of Defense reported in London.
Russian supply ships have since the sinking of the warship “Moscow” and the naval retreat to the annexed Crimean peninsula had little protection. If Moscow could consolidate its position with strategic air defenses and defensive cruise missiles, it could dominate the north-western Black Sea.
Land bridge to Moldova
According to the US intelligence services, the shift of the fighting to the Donbass is only possible “in the interim” be. Russian President Vladimir Putin is preparing for a lengthy conflict in Ukraine, during which he “still intends to achieve goals beyond Donbass”, said US intelligence coordinator Avril Haines. Putin wants to establish a land connection via southern Ukraine to Transnistria in the Republic of Moldova.
Millions of jobs lost
4.8 million jobs have been lost since Russia’s war of aggression in Ukraine began on February 24, according to the International Labor Organization (ILO). According to the ILO, this corresponds to around 30 percent of the Ukrainian working population before the start of the war.
Job losses could rise to as many as seven million if hostilities continue. On the other hand, 3.4 million jobs could quickly be restored in the event of a ceasefire.
The ILO also warned that the war could also drive up unemployment in neighboring countries, such as Poland, which are hosting large numbers of refugees.
Amnesty chief: Vladimir Putin hates Ukrainians
According to the Secretary General of the human rights organization Amnesty International, the Russian leadership around President Vladimir Putin has a “hatred” against all Ukrainians. “There are statements, comments and appearances by Putin and other Russian leaders that show how they ignore and hate the Ukrainian people, in which they talk as if Ukraine does not exist,” Agnes Callamard said on Wednesday night in the Ukrainian tv
“And it is precisely these statements that we will use as part of the evidence when we discuss the issue of genocide.” The violence used in this war is due to the systems thinking created by Moscow. “Violence becomes the main mode of action, it is tolerated and sometimes even glorified. There is no control and this creates the conditions for violent behavior, there is a regime of impunity,” Callamard said.
“Crime Repeats”
There is no evidence that the military leadership demands torture or murder from the soldiers. “But we have evidence that the leadership is not stopping these crimes. So they repeat themselves over and over again,” said the Amnesty director.
In the past few days, Callamard and a delegation have visited the Kyiv suburbs, where dozens of civilians have been victims of Russian violence.
Activist managed to escape from Russia
The activist of the Kremlin-critical punk band Pussy Riot, Maria Alyokhina, managed to escape from Russia despite police surveillance. With the help of friends, the 33-year-old reached Lithuania via Belarus, she told the New York Times. In order to escape from her monitors in Moscow, she disguised herself as a food delivery woman. The 33-year-old reported that she also left her cell phone behind to distract herself and not to be located.
“I still don’t fully understand what I did,” the artist told the newspaper in an interview. But she is glad she made it. “When your heart is free, it doesn’t matter where you are,” she insisted. “A lot of magic” happened last week. “It sounds like a spy novel.”
Source: Nachrichten
