Pro-Russian militias hope to take all of Donbas before the end of the year
The territory of the Donetsk region will come under full control of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) before the end of the year, the spokesman for the separatist militias, Eduard Basurin, said today.
“We have a certain advance, and regarding the future, we will not give specific dates, but the liberation of Donbas will end this year,” he told the Russian channel Rossiya 24.
The pro-Russian military representative also referred to Western weapons that have arrived at the front in recent weeks and have served the Ukrainian Army to destroy Russian arsenals in the rear.
“No matter how much they bring, we will capture it or destroy it, there are no other variants,” he said.
H&M announces it will leave Russia
The Swedish multinational clothing store H&M (Hennes & Mauritz), which had already suspended its sales in Russia in March, announced on Monday that it will gradually leave that country as a result of the invasion of Ukraine.
“After a mature reflection, we see that it is impossible to continue our activity in Russia taking into account the situation,” said the group’s CEO Helena Helmersson in a statement.
As part of its departure from the Russian market, H&M plans to temporarily reopen its stores, closed a few days after the invasion of Ukraineto sell the remaining products.
EU says Ukrainian grain export is ‘a matter of life and death’
The resumption of grain exports from Ukraine is a “matter of life or death” and the European Union is “hopeful” that an agreement will be reached this week to unblock the port of Odessa, the head of diplomacy said on Monday. European Josep Borrell.
“The lives of (…) tens of thousands of people depend on this agreement” that is negotiated between Russia, Ukraine, Turkey and the United Nations, explained Borrell upon arriving in Brussels for a meeting of EU foreign ministers consecrated to the war in Ukraine.
The negotiations seek to finalize the exit through the Black Sea of some 20 million tons of grain stored in Ukrainian silos, particularly in Odessa (south), and facilitate the Russian export of grain and fertilizers.
Russia says it destroyed 14 Ukrainian command posts in the south and east
The Russian Ministry of Defense assured today that the air and army forces destroyed 14 Ukrainian command posts in the Mykolaiv and Zaporizhia regions, in the south, and in the self-proclaimed people’s republic of Donetsk, in the east.
The military spokesman, Lieutenant General Igor Konashénkov, pointed out in his morning war report that the operational-tactical aviation and the Army’s missile and artillery forces hit 14 command posts, including that of the 28th mechanized brigade in the Mykolaiv region.
He also referred to the attack on the 60th infantry brigade in the Novooleksandrivka region in Zaporizhia and the 15th battalion of the 58th motorized infantry brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in Pokrovsk in the eastern Donetsk region.
Konashenkov also assured that the missiles hit soldiers and military equipment of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in 286 districts.
Donetsk pro-Russians claim to have partially encircled Avdiivka
Troops of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) cut off the road between the cities of Konstantinivka and Avdiivka and partially surrounded the latter, DPR militia spokesman Eduard Basurin said today.
“We completely blocked two sections of the highway between Avdiivka and Konstantinivka. Avdiivka is now partially fenced off,” the pro-Russian representative told the First Russian Television Channel.
The spokesman for the militias pointed out that at the moment the conditions are being prepared for the beginning of the definitive seizure of the territories of the Donetsk region.
The day before, the DPR Territorial Defense General Staff announced that pro-Russian forces have taken control of 253 towns in the Donetsk region with the support of the Russian Army.
Avdiivka is one of the strongholds in the Donetsk region, after Slaviansk and Kramatorsk, which is why it has become a priority target of the pro-Russian militias, who accuse the Ukrainian Army of using this town to bombard the neighboring city of Donetsk, under Russian control.
Russian Defense Minister orders attack on Ukrainian long-range artillery
Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu has ordered a priority attack on Ukrainian long-range missile and artillery systems during an inspection visit to the “East” group, which is participating in the military campaign in Ukraine.
“Army General Sergei Shoigú, after highlighting the strengthening of the group’s offensive capabilities, instructed the commander to attack the adversary’s long-range artillery and rocket systems with high-precision weapons,” Defense reported on its channel today. from Telegram.
According to the press release, which did not specify when Shoigu carried out the inspection visit, Ukraine uses this weaponry to “attack residential neighborhoods in Donbas localities and set fire to wheat fields and grain silos.”
Six dead in Russian shelling of eastern Ukraine city
Six people were killed in a Russian bombardment in Toretsk, a city in Donbas, in eastern Ukraineannounced on Monday the Ukrainian emergency services.
“A building was destroyed by a shell in Toretsk shelled in the morning. Rescuers recovered five bodies. Three people were rescued from the rubble, one of whom died in hospital,” according to a statement posted on the Facebook page of those services. .