On the 136th day of the conflict, Vladimir Putin’s army continues its heavy offensive against Donbass. The United States will send new weapons to Kyiv.
In summary :
– On the ground, Russian troops continue to shell the cities and the Ukrainian resistance in the east of the country, in particular the city of Donetsk.
– The United States will send new heavy artillery systems to Kyiv forces.
– The meeting of G20 foreign ministers, this Friday in Bali, Indonesia, did not lead to any major progress.
1:59 p.m.
Russians accused of burning crops. The Ukrainian general staff reported on Saturday Russian bombardments in the East and on Kharkiv, but no ground offensive, the troops of Moscow thus do not seem to carry out any assaults at the moment apart from an attempt on Dolomitné, near Bakhmout, in the East. He also accused the Russian army of causing fires in fields, poultry complexes and landfills, injuring one person. The day before, the governor of Donetsk Pavlo Kyrylenkol had accused the Russian army of provokingr “massive fires in the fields”ensuring: “they try to destroy the crops by all means”. In the south, police in the Kherson region announced the initiation of criminal proceedings after the destruction of crops by Russian forces.
1:18 p.m.
Zelensky is pushing to bring “the real war criminals” to justice. “The eyes of all the aggressive political movements and regimes in the world are now on what Russia is doing to us”Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky wrote on his Instagram account this Saturday, with several photos showing destruction in his country. “Will the world be able to bring the real war criminals to justice?” he asks himself, warning of the risk of “hundreds of other assaults” if he fails.
12:12 p.m.
“When you fire one rocket, the Russians fire ten”. In a twilight atmosphere, the exhausted Ukrainian soldiers stationed in the small town of Siversk hope for the arrival of new weapons to deal with the relentless bombardments of Russian troops on the Donbass. The inhabitants, themselves, oscillate between terror and stoicism in the face of the fighting. The report by Luc Mathieu, the special correspondent of Release in Siversk.
11:33 am
Ukrainian soldiers trained in the UK. A first group of Ukrainian soldiers has arrived in the United Kingdom for training, as part of London’s support for Kyiv since the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the British government announced on Saturday. Thanks to “expertise” of the British army“we will help Ukraine to rebuild its forces and intensify its resistance to defend the sovereignty of its country and its right to choose its own future”said British Defense Minister Ben Wallace in a statement. According to the Ministry of Defence, 1,050 British soldiers are mobilized on this program, which takes place at military sites in the North West, South West and South East of the United Kingdom. In mid-June, Downing Street announced that London had offered to “train up to 10,000 soldiers every 120 days”.
10:59
The United States is putting pressure on China. “This is truly the time when we all need to stand up, as one G20 country after another has done, to condemn the aggression and demand, among other things, that Russia allow access food blocked in Ukraine», asks the head of American diplomacy Antony Blinken, after a meeting in the Indonesian island of Bali with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi. Furthermore, Blinken says that he did not perceive “no sign” cooperation from Russia.
10:18 a.m.
The United States and China are discussing Ukraine. Wang Yi and Antony Blinken, the heads of Chinese and American diplomacy, tried this Saturday to ease tensions between their respective countries during a rare meeting on the Indonesian island of Bali, the day after the G20. US officials were cautiously optimistic about China’s stance on Ukraine, condemning its rhetorical support for Russia but also noting that Beijing backed its words with no material support for Moscow. . “What is striking is the moderation and discretion” with which China approached the issue of Ukraine at the G20, noted a Western official.
9:48
Powerful US rocket launchers and precision shells for Ukraine. According to a senior Pentagon official, the new US military aid of $400 million – which includes four Himars multiple rocket systems and 155mm shells – will improve Ukraine’s capabilities to target weapon depots. weapons and the supply chain of the Russian army. Thanks to the first eight Himars delivered last month, military experts estimate that the Ukrainian army was able to destroy more than a dozen Russian ammunition depots installed behind the front line in the east of the country. Washington has already provided $6.9 billion in military assistance to kyiv since the Russian invasion began on February 24.
9:21
The Donetsk region under the bombs. “The whole front line is under constant bombardment,” Regional Governor Pavlo Kyrylenko said Friday evening. “They keep shelling in the direction of Donetsk […] Bakhmout is bombed, Sloviansk is bombed day and night, Kramatorsk…”, he added on Telegram. Earlier in the day, Pavlo Kyrylenko had reported a toll of six dead and 21 wounded in 24 hours in the bombardments of the region. According to him, the Russian army ist “in the process of regrouping, or rather reconstituting its groups and preparing new actions in Sloviansk, Kramatorsk, Bakhmout”. In the Kharkiv region (north-east), the country’s second largest city, Russian bombing killed four civilians and injured nine in 24 hours, Governor Oleg Sinegoubov said.
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