Ukrainian sources reported loud explosions heard on the Black Sea Snake Island, which fell to the Russians on the first day of the fighting and is considered one of the great symbols of the war.
According to the announcement, a “variety of forces and means of destruction” were used during the operation, and the Russians suffered “significant losses” when a Pentzir-1 air defense post, radar station and a number of vehicles were destroyed. From last weekend, and they reinforce Ukrainian claims about the attacks.On the other hand, the Russians claimed that they managed to thwart the attack and shot down 13 Ukrainian UAVs, in addition to ballistic missiles and rockets.
In the main battlefield in Donbas, the fierce fighting continues in the Sverdansk and Lisichensk region, the last two cities in the Luhansk region that are still under Ukrainian control. District Governor Serhiy Gaidai updated yesterday that the Russians had managed to occupy three villages, allowing them to advance artillery positions towards Lisichensk.
Gaidai also said that 568 people, including 38 children, were still hiding in the basements of the Azot chemical plant in Sverdansk and that they could not be evacuated, but only as part of an agreement that would include a ceasefire. However, he noted that the besieged have enough food and medicine for the coming weeks as well, and that it is not yet a crisis as it was at the Azobestel plant in Mariupol.
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Former Member of Parliament Volodymyr Persyuk, who is taking part in the fighting in Luhansk, added that “to continue the slaughter of the enemy in this way is a high level of self-sacrifice and motivation. If our top leadership does not appreciate it it will be a betrayal.”
Meanwhile the Russians continue to threaten Lithuania, after the Baltic state blocked the passage of certain goods to the Russian enclave of Kaliningrad. Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova warned that the response “would not be diplomatic, but practical,” and did not elaborate.
Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov demanded from NATO countries not to talk further about the possibility of operating Article 5 of the alliance to assist Lithuania if necessary, after the US administration expressed a commitment to protect the Baltic ally.