Kyiv, UKRAINE (AP) — Russia targeted the Odessa and Mykolaiv regions in Ukraine’s southern Black Sea region with airstrikes on Tuesday, hitting civilian buildings and port infrastructure with missiles fired from long-range bombers, the Ukrainian military said. Stated.
In the Odessa region, buildings in coastal villages were attacked And it caught 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, an official based in Moscow, southern Ukraine, said the Odesa and Mykolaiv regions, as well as the already occupied Kherson region in the 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.
Diplomatically, Russia’s foreign minister reiterated that Moscow was ready to meet with Ukraine. He reiterated that Kyiv’s western allies opposed the deal, but spoke of ending the war.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said: “We have never refused talks because we all know that any hostilities end at the negotiating table.” said on Tuesday during a trip to Uganda.
he said the negotiations were not progressing any further Since the talks between the two sides in Istanbul at the end of March.
Ukrainian officials have spoken of possible counterattacks in the south, but the British Defense Ministry reported on Tuesday that 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.
As Russia cannot realistically attempt a landing operation to occupy Odessa, this significantly undermined the overall invasion plan,” the ministry said. “Russia will continue to prioritize efforts to degrade and destroy Ukraine’s anti-ship capabilities.”
Furthermore, “Russia’s targeting processes are very likely routinely compromised by outdated information, poor planning, and a top-down approach to operations.”
In other military deployments, Russian artillery fire over the past 24 hours has killed at least three civilians and wounded eight in Ukraine, the Ukrainian president’s office said on Tuesday.
In the eastern Donetsk region, where fighting has been intensifying in recent months, Russian forces have targeted the region’s largest cities, Bakhmut, Avdiuka and Tretsk, according to the president’s office, along the entire front line. .
Donetsk regional governor Pablo Kirilenko accused the Russian military of using cluster bombs and repeatedly called on civilians to evacuate.
“There is not a single safe place left. Everything is being shelled,” Kirilenko said in a televised remark. “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.
But the Russian military made “limited profits” there, the Ukrainian General Staff admitted.
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 the Sloviansk and Kramatorsk cities of Donetsk.
“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 was killed and another wounded in an attack by Ukrainian forces on the Russian-Ukrainian border. Unconfirmed reports say the attack took place at a border crossing in Russia’s Bryansk region.
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 the Kremlin would “define the complete protection of Ukraine and its people.” 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 go on for months,” Burbock said. said during a visit to Prague.
In other development:
— European Union Government Agreed to distribute natural gas this winter in preparation for cuts in Russian supply. 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 reduce the flow of gas to Germany through the Nordstream 1 pipeline to 20% of capacity from Wednesday. In his nightly video address on Tuesday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky accused the Russian government of “doing everything to make this winter the hardest for European countries.” “Terrorism must be addressed – respond with sanctions,” he added.
— Russian space chief says country will opt out of international space station After 2024, we will focus on building our own orbital outpost. 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 Western powers 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 Russia’s east, noting that it continues regular military drills despite its actions in Ukraine.The Russian Defense Ministry said Tuesday. , announced that airborne forces, long-range bombers and military cargo planes will participate in the Vostok 2022 (East 2022) exercise scheduled for August 30-September. Five.
— U.S. officials say they have yet to see evidence that Iran is supplying Russia with drones for use in the Ukraine war. The White House has previously released satellite images showing Russians visiting Iranian air bases and seeing weapon-capable drones. But White House national security spokesman John Kirby said on Tuesday that “we haven’t seen anything really affected.” That shows that sanctions and export controls are affecting Russia’s military production, he said.
___
Follow AP’s war coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine
