According to the Ukrainian military, Russia carried out airstrikes on Tuesday in Ukraine’s southern Black Sea region of Odessa and Mykolaiv, hitting civilian buildings and port infrastructure with missiles fired from long-range bombers.
In the Odessa region, buildings in coastal villages were attacked and set on fire, Ukrainian Operations Command South said on Facebook. A spokesman for the Ukrainian Air Force said Russian long-range Tu-22M3 bombers and Su-30 and Su-35 fighter jets launched the strike from the Black Sea. In the Mykolaiv region, port infrastructure was targeted despite an agreement aimed at allowing the resumption of grain shipments from Ukraine’s Black Sea ports.
Hours after the strike, officials based in Moscow, southern Ukraine, said the Odesa and Mykolaiv regions, as well as the already occupied Kherson region further east, would soon be “liberated” by Russian forces. .
“The Kherson region and the city of Kherson are free forever,” Russian state news agency RIA Novosti quoted Kirill Stremsov, the region’s official appointed by Russia.
On the diplomatic front, Russia’s top diplomat reiterated that Moscow was ready to negotiate with Ukraine to end the war, but again said Kyiv’s western allies were against the deal. claimed.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Tuesday during a visit to Uganda, “We have never refused talks because we all know that any hostilities end at the negotiating table.
He said negotiations had not progressed since the two sides met in Istanbul at the end of March.
Ukrainian officials have spoken of possible counterattacks in the south, but the British Defense Ministry said on Tuesday there was no indication that Ukrainian warships and stockpiles of anti-ship missiles were in the port of Odessa. .
The UK Foreign Office said Russia sees Ukraine’s use of anti-ship missiles as a “major threat” to limit its Black Sea fleet.
This seriously undermined the overall invasion plan, as Russia cannot realistically attempt a landing operation to occupy Odessa,” the ministry said. “Russia will continue to prioritize efforts to degrade and destroy Ukraine’s anti-ship capabilities.”
“Russia’s targeting process is most likely routinely compromised by outdated information, poor planning, and a top-down approach to operations,” he added.
In other military deployments, Russian artillery fire over the past 24 hours has killed at least three civilians in Ukraine and injured eight more, the Ukrainian president’s office said Tuesday.
In the eastern Donetsk region, where fighting has been intense in recent months, Russian forces have continued to shell out across the front, targeting the region’s largest cities, Bakhmut, Avdiuka and Tretsk, according to the president’s office.
Donetsk regional governor Pablo Kirilenko accused the Russian military of using cluster bombs and called on civilians to evacuate.
“There is not a single safe place left. Everything is under shelling,” Kirilenko said in televised remarks. “But there are still evacuation routes for civilians.”
The War Research Institute, a Washington-based think tank, says Moscow is using Shadow Wagner Group mercenaries to capture the Bühledal power plant on the northern outskirts of the village of Novorhanske in the Bakhmut region. Reported.
However, according to the Ukrainian General Staff, the Russian military is making “limited profits” there.
Russia’s main regional focus at the moment is to capture Bakhmut, where Russian forces need to launch an eastern offensive on Ukrainian strongholds in Donetsk, the cities of Sloviansk and Kramatorsk.
“Russian forces have made modest gains south of Bakhmut, but are unlikely to be able to effectively use these advances to gain complete control over Bakhmut itself,” said the Institute for War Studies.
Russian forces continued to attack civilian infrastructure in Kharkov, Ukraine’s second-largest city, and surrounding areas in the country’s northeast.
Kharkiv Governor Olev Sinievbov said the strikes resumed in the city around dawn on Tuesday, with car dealerships being damaged.
“Russians are deliberately targeting civilian infrastructure such as hospitals, schools and cinemas,” Snieubov told Ukrainian television. “We are urging people to avoid large gatherings as everything is being fired on, even in humanitarian lines.”
The Moldovan Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on Tuesday that one Moldovan citizen had been killed and another injured.
In response to Lavrov’s comments on Monday that Moscow’s overarching goal in Ukraine is to liberate the people from an “unacceptable regime”, German Foreign Minister Analena Beerbock said that Moscow would “defend Ukraine and its people completely.” He said he hopes for a “great conquest”.
“We must prepare for this war. Russia is committing absolute atrocities and doing it in a way that no one else will. This war will last for months.”
Other deployments on Tuesday:
— The European Union government has agreed to distribute natural gas this winter to protect against Russian supply cuts. The EU’s energy minister has approved a bill aimed at reducing demand for gas by 15% from August to March. The law includes voluntary national measures to reduce gas consumption, triggering mandatory action if it does not yield sufficient savings. Russian energy company Gazprom said it will cut the flow of gas to Germany through the Nordstream 1 pipeline to 20% of capacity from Wednesday.
— Russia’s space chief said the country will opt out of the International Space Station after 2024 and focus on building its own orbital outposts. Yuri Borisov, who was appointed head of state-owned space company Roscosmos earlier this month, said Russia would fulfill its duties on the space station before leaving the project. The move is part of a broader secession trend stemming from rising tensions between Russia and the West over the Kremlin’s military operations in Ukraine.
— The UK has imposed sanctions on two senior Russian government officials overseeing the judiciary and two senior local officials in Russia-occupied eastern Ukraine. Also facing sanctions are several Syrian military personnel accused of recruiting Syrians to fight for Russia in Ukraine.
— German Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht said Germany had delivered the previously announced Mars II multiple-launch rocket system and three more howitzers to Ukraine. Lambrecht said Germany had also delivered five of the promised 30 Gepard self-propelled armored anti-aircraft guns, reported Deutsche News Agency dpa.
— The Russian military has announced plans to conduct large-scale training in eastern Russia, noting that it continues regular military drills despite its actions in Ukraine.The Russian Defense Ministry said on Tuesday, It said the Vostok 2022 (East 2022) exercises are scheduled for August 30 to September. 5. Added that airborne forces, long-range bombers and military cargo planes will participate.
