The Russian offensive intensifies on the eastern front of the country. the ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskycalled on the citizens this Sunday night to prepare for “even larger operations in the east” and with the passing of the hours of this Monday, the predictions have been confirmed. Monday dawned with alerts for possible Russian bombing in almost all regions of the country, including kyiv, Odessa and Lviv.
The Russian Defense Ministry announced on Monday that has managed to destroy the airborne missile defense system S-300 donated by Slovakia in a series of bombings carried out on the outskirts of the province of Dnipro, in eastern Ukraine. “This Sunday, precision anti-missile systems have destroyed military anti-missile equipment in a hangar,” said Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov, according to the Interfax news agency. In addition, he has indicated that during the night a series of attacks against Ukrainian military installations in Mykolayiv, Donetsk and other regions of the country.
bombing and devastation
The region of Kharkivin eastern Ukraine and one of the hardest hit by the Russian Army, has been bombed 66 times in the last 24 hours in attacks that have caused at least eleven dead and fourteen wounded. This was reported by the head of the Regional Military Administration, Oleh Syniehubov, on his Telegram account, who added that the attacks have included bombardment with artillery, mortars and rocket launch systems multiple russians. On the other hand, the Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine, Irina Vereshchuk, also affirmed today to have reached agreements for the opening of nine humanitarian corridors for the evacuation of civilians in various parts of the country. Thus, civilians will be able to travel from Mariúpol, in the Donetsk region, to Zaporizhia –in their own transport– and from Berdiansk, Tokmak and Energodar also to Zaporizhia, in transport authorized by the authorities.
In the direction of Donetsk, Russia continues to focus on taking control of settlements in Popasna, Rubizhne, Nyzhne and Novobahmutivka, as well as in establishing full control over the city of Mariupol, where, “with the support of artillery and aviation, the occupiers continue to storm the areas of the Azovstal plant and the seaport.” Zelenski, who appeared in the South Korean parliament on Monday, said he believes there are “tens of thousands” dead in the besieged port of Mariupol in the south of the country. Zelensky stated that Russia “completely destroyed Mariupol and burned it to ashes”. “Tens of thousands of citizens of Mariupol must have died,” the Ukrainian leader told South Korean lawmakers. “Ladies and gentlemen, we have seen devastation of this magnitude many times in the 20th century,” he said in an attempt to get military assistance, planes and tanks to “save the lives of ordinary people.”
Over the past 24 hours, Ukrainian defenders have repelled four Russian attacks in the Donetsk and Lugansk regions, destroying five enemy tanks, eight armored units, six vehicles and eight artillery systems, according to the Ukrainian Army report.
war crimes
At least 183 boys and girls have died and 342 have been injured in Ukraine since the Russian invasion of the country began on February 24, according to updated data published this Monday by the Parliament’s Human Rights Commissioner, Liudmyla Denisova. However, as he explained, it is currently impossible to determine the real number of minors who have been victims of the war, since Russian troops carry out continuous attacks and hostile actions within Ukrainian cities.
So far, most casualties have been recorded in the Donetsk (110), kyiv (98), Kharkiv (76), Chernigov (54), Mykolaiv (40), Luhansk (35), Zaporizhia (22) and Kherson (29). Ukrainian law enforcement agencies are trying to gather evidence of the possible atrocities attributed to the Russian troops while they occupied the town of Buzova, near kyiv, Anton Gerashchenko, adviser to the Ukrainian Interior Minister, explained on Monday. As reported to the ministerial adviser on his Telegram account, a mass grave with the bodies of Ukrainian civilians was found in the town of Buzova.
Related news
Meanwhile, investigations into alleged Russian war crimes continue and Joseph Borrell, has warned of the “brutality” that he witnessed last week on his trip to Ukraine with the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen. “We have witnessed what happens there, the brutal, brutal aggression by Russian troops against the civilian population,” he indicated, and assured that they have returned “truly impressed” by what they witnessed there. Likewise, the Spanish politician said that today they will address how to give more support to the Ukrainian people, as well as to the International Criminal Court (ICC), for which he met with his attorney general, Karim Khan.
France announced on Monday that it has sent a technical team of forensic and gendarmes specialized in criminal investigation to Ukraine to work on the clarification of alleged war crimes. They are specialists in ballistics, explosives, genetic samples and fingerprints who are prepared to launch a chain of examination and identification of corpses, and they are going to deploy a DNA laboratory.