Russia’s Massive Offensive in Ukraine
Russian forces have launched a massive offensive and probably surrounded the Ukrainian city of Kherson at the beginning of the 6th day of the war in Ukraine.
Strong explosions were heard earlier from the direction of the airport to Kherson, which is probably already under Russian control. The mayor of the southern city, Igor Kolikhaev, and the local administration say Kherson is surrounded by Russian troops but is not yet under their control. Kolikhaev called on residents – “not to provoke the enemy.”
Located on the banks of the Dnieper, Kherson's position is key, as it lies between the Russian-controlled Crimean peninsula and Odessa.
There are strikes in the north again. Russian forces are blowing up substations around Kharkiv – Ukraine’s second-largest city, causing problems with electricity and water supplies, the city's mayor Igor Terekhov said.
Last night, Ukrainian and Western media spread satellite images showing a 40-kilometer Russian military convoy advancing on the capital, Kyiv. The morning hours were again sounded by warning sirens in the Ukrainian capital, as well as in the cities of Ternopil, Vinnytsia, Rivne and Cherkasy.
According to the Ukrainian army, yesterday the Russian military regrouped and amassed military equipment in certain areas - mostly in order to conquer Kyiv and other major cities such as Kharkiv, Chernihiv, Odessa, Kherson and Mariupol.
Some units of the Belarusian army have begun to move to the border with Ukraine, according to information from the Ukrainian General Staff, quoted by UNIAN. Minsk said there were no troops outside the country.
Meanwhile, authorities in the so-called Luhansk People's Republic said the Ukrainian military had fired six shots at three settlements in the territory. Reuters photos from the other separatist region around Donetsk showed destruction allegedly caused by Ukrainian shelling, as well as the burial of two female teachers who died.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has signed a decree introducing a visa-free regime for foreign volunteers who want to help protect the country, local media reported. The measure comes into force today and will last for the period of martial law.
Zelensky accused Russia of war crimes, and on the occasion of talks with Moscow yesterday, Zelensky said that Kyiv did not get the result he expected.
Ukraine's ambassador to the United States, Oksana Markarova, said Russia had used a vacuum bomb - a weapon banned by the Geneva Convention - in yesterday's invasion, Reuters reported. Speaking to members of Congress, Markarova said Moscow was trying to inflict heavy damage on her country.
/BNR