Russia Ukraine war latest updates: Putin ‘to switch focus to Donetsk’ after capturing key Luhansk city

The Ukrainian army has confirmed its withdrawal from Lyschansk, the last major city held by the country’s forces in the main eastern Luhansk province.

Earlier on Sunday, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu told President Vladimir Putin that Luhansk had been “liberated” – a claim initially denied by Ukrainian defense officials.

But in a statement published Sunday evening on an official Facebook page, Ukraine’s General Staff Office said after “heavy fighting” that they withdrew to protect their forces, he wrote. Bill Troy.

Officials from the prosecutor’s office in the besieged country said that Russia’s war on Ukraine had killed at least 345 children and wounded 64 others.

Officials said that the numbers are expected to be higher because it does not include casualties from occupied areas and from areas where the military war is taking place. Kyiv Independent.

The Russian military war was set to shift targets to the then neighboring Donetsk region, an area under the control of Kyiv in large parts.

Volodymyr Zelensky said that Russian soldiers were now concentrating their firepower on the Donbass front but added that his forces would respond with long-range weapons such as US-supplied HIMARS rocket launchers.

The fact that we protect the lives of our soldiers and our people plays an equally important role. “We will rebuild the walls, we will take back the land, and people must be protected before anything else,” Mr. Zelensky said.

Winner Jamala said the Ukrainian Eurovision 2023 song contest should be held in the UK if her country is unable to host.

The 38-year-old who won the Eurovision Song Contest in 2016 with her 1944 tune fled Kyiv in March after the Russian invasion.

The British Ministry of Defense said the fighting in Donbass in Ukraine is unlikely to change as Russia now plans to shift its focus to the capture of Donetsk.

“The fight for Donbass has been hard and draining and this is unlikely to change in the coming weeks,” the ministry said on Monday in its intelligence update.

The British Ministry of Defense confirmed the withdrawal of Ukrainian forces from Lyschansk, and said that these fighters are likely to return to prepared defensive positions. “Earlier, the Russian Defense Ministry claimed that it had completed the encirclement of Lysekhansk and secured full control of the city,” the ministry said in its latest intelligence update.

She added that heavy fighting “in and around Luhansk Oblast has intensified over the past week with Russian forces making steady progress.”

The city was the last remaining major population center in Luhansk Oblast under Ukrainian control. The ministry added that Russia’s focus will now almost certainly shift to the capture of the Donetsk Oblast, a large part of which is still under the control of Ukrainian forces.

Regarding the supply of grain through Europe, the ministry said the Russian invasion is still having a devastating impact on Ukraine’s agricultural sector as the harvest season begins.

“The war has caused significant disruption to the seed and fertilizer supply chains on which Ukrainian farmers depend,” the ministry said.

She added, “The Russian blockade of Odessa continues to severely restrict Ukrainian grain exports. For this reason, Ukrainian agricultural exports in 2022 are unlikely to exceed 35% of the total in 2021.”

The British ministry also rejected Russian allegations about the withdrawal from the Black Sea outpost on Snake Island, saying that “the ball is now in Ukraine’s court” with regard to improving grain exports.

“In fact, it is Russia’s disruption of the Ukrainian agricultural sector that continues to exacerbate the global food crisis,” the ministry said.

British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss is set to pledge Britain’s “long-term” support for Ukraine to resist Vladimir Putin’s invasion and rebuild the nation at a conference in Switzerland today.

Ms Truss is set to tell a recovery conference in Switzerland that the UK will “do everything in its power to ensure Ukraine wins the war and recovers”, with Volodymyr Zelensky asking Britain to support the recovery of Kyiv and the surrounding region, according to the Foreign Office.

The senior foreign official will use the Lugano conference to set out a vision to provide immediate support and long-term commitments to work alongside the Ukrainians, and will announce plans to host a recovery conference next year where the government commits to a Marshall Plan-style program. , echoing what was used to rebuild Europe after World War II.

Ukraine’s recovery from Russia’s war of aggression will be a symbol of the power of democracy over authoritarianism. It will show Putin that his attempts to destroy Ukraine have only led to the emergence of a stronger, more prosperous and unified country,” she is expected to say.

The UK is firm in its support of Ukraine’s territorial integrity and will remain with Ukraine as it emerges as a strong, prosperous and developing democracy. Ukraine’s support led us during the war and will continue to lead in support of the Ukrainian government’s plan for reconstruction and development.”

After counting Moscow’s losses, Volodymyr Zelensky said that Russia had lost thousands of soldiers and that he was following Ukraine’s victory in the war in Europe.

They lost more than 35,000 soldiers, and that’s a conservative estimate. why all that? For the sake of the insane propagandists to be able to show the Russian or Soviet flag on the ruins somewhere on their radio programs…there is simply no other answer, Zelensky said late Sunday.

He claimed that the Russian economy had plunged itself into “the biggest crisis of the past 50 years”.

The world cut ties with Russia. The words ‘collapse’, ‘impotence’ and ‘poverty’ will describe Russian life as long as this country wants to be a terrorist state.”

“It is clear to everyone in the world – and I am sure, to all reasonable people of Russia itself – that Ukraine will prevail. It is only a matter of time,” Zelensky added.

It is a matter of, unfortunately, the losses that we suffer, mainly of people. “It is a question of modern weapons, we must have and we will certainly have them,” he said in his evening address.

The person who would eventually replace Vladimir Putin, and the kind of political system that would emerge around them, “is probably one of my biggest concerns,” said Mikhail Khodorkovsky, turned oligarch-turned-dissident,

In an interview with independentKhodorkovsky—who was once the richest man in Russia before he was persecuted and imprisoned by the Kremlin—said: “The Russian people desire a good Tsar. The West desires a good Tsar.

But in Russia, a good tsar is always an imperialist. The only way to destroy that imperialist mentality of Russian power is to change the regime.”

Senior news reporter Samuel Lovett He has the full report here:

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said that his country will help Ukraine with 34 additional armored vehicles and will ban the import of Russian gold.

On his symbolic visit to Kyiv, Albanese said on Sunday that Australia would impose sanctions and travel bans on 16 additional Russian ministers and oligarchs, bringing the total number of Russian individuals sanctioned by Australia to 843.

The newly elected prime minister said Australia would give Ukraine 14 armored personnel carriers and 20 Bushmaster vehicles.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky thanked the Australian Prime Minister for his visit, describing it as a “historic moment”.

“Australia is one of the best countries in terms of the level of support. We have already received significant defense assistance from it. The Prime Minister announced today a new support package. I am grateful to him for that,” Mr. Zelensky said.

He added, “Australia will also increase sanctions against Russia. This is the result of our continued activity that increases the cost of this war for Russia.”

Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed that Ukrainian forces had moved out of Lyschansk, the last major city of Luhansk still under Ukrainian control.

Nevertheless, the Ukrainian president pledged to regain control of the region thanks to the tactics of the army and the prospect of obtaining new and improved weapons.

“If the commanders of our army withdraw people from certain points on the front, where the enemy has the greatest advantage in firepower, and this also applies to Lyschansk, then this means only one thing,” Zelensky said in his video night speech.

“We will return thanks to our tactics, thanks to the increased supply of modern weapons.”

And he added: “Ukraine does not give up anything. And when someone there in Moscow reports something about the Luhansk region – let them remember their reports and promises before February 24, in the first days of this invasion, in the spring and now. “