Latest news on Russia and the war in Ukraine

The British Ministry of Defense said the main battle for the front-line city of Sloviansk in Donetsk is coming. Russian forces advance into Donetsk province after taking control of the neighboring Luhansk region.

“It is now probable that the Russian forces of the eastern and western groups of forces lie about 16 kilometers north of the city of Slovensk. With the city also under threat from the central and southern groups of forces, there is a realistic possibility that the Battle of Slovensk will be over. It will be the next major contest in the struggle on Donbass,” the ministry said on Wednesday.

Mayor of the city Vadim Lyach said, on Wednesday, that a market in Sloviansk was bombed yesterday, killing two people and wounding seven others.

The ministry indicated that Russia is likely to continue to consolidate its control over Lyschansk and Luhansk Oblast, where fierce fighting has raged for weeks in a row, culminating last weekend with Russia’s seizure of the last Ukrainian-controlled city in the province.

The British noted that Russia “committed most of the remaining available units of the eastern and western groups of forces to the Izyum axis north of Sloviansk,” referring to the route between Slovensk through Izyum, to Kharkiv in northeastern Ukraine. .

“Over the past week, Russian forces have probably advanced another 5 km on the E40 main road from Izyum, facing a very determined Ukrainian resistance,” the ministry said.

– Holly Eliat

The Russian parliament has taken several steps towards putting the country’s economy on a war footing, passing two bills in the Duma (the lower house of parliament) that would allow the government to force Russian companies to supply the military with war goods. efforts.

Deputy Prime Minister Yuri Borisov said: “The burden on the defense industry has increased significantly. In order to ensure the supply of weapons and ammunition, it is necessary to improve the work of the military-industrial complex and enterprises that are part of the chains of cooperation.” He told lawmakers Tuesday, according to a Reuters translation.

A second bill, also passed by the State Duma after a preliminary reading, would amend the Labor Code. This means that companies that provide goods that aid in the war effort can have their employees work at night, on weekends and holidays, and without annual leave, if necessary.

Both bills still need second and third reading in the State Duma and must be approved by the upper chamber and signed by President Vladimir Putin.

“The mobilization of the country’s economic and industrial potential to support the military is a tacit acknowledgment of the significant losses incurred since the beginning of the invasion and the approaching shortage of certain types of equipment,” Andrios Torsa, a Central and Eastern Europe consultant at Teneo Intelligence, commented Tuesday.

“At the same time, Moscow can be seen as preparing to continue its military operations in the long term.”

– Holly Eliat

An air alert was declared across Ukraine on Tuesday night, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said, leaving many civilians anxious after a period of relative calm in parts of the country.

“Before that, there was no air alert in the capital and some regions for some time,” Zelensky said in his nightly speech, adding that this left many people wondering if Russia was planning something.

Zelensky asked the Ukrainians not to “overthink”, saying: “You should not look for logic in the actions of terrorists.”

“The Russian army does not take any breaks. It has one mission – to take people’s lives, to frighten people – so that even a few days without air warning already feels part of the horror.”

– Holly Eliat

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet said her office has mounting evidence of unlawful killings and summary executions by Russian forces.

“Increasing evidence provides my office with reasonable grounds to believe that the Russian armed forces have committed serious violations of international humanitarian law in this regard,” Bachelet wrote in a statement.

Bachelet said UN investigators have verified that more than 1,200 civilian bodies have been recovered from Kyiv. She added that her office was working to confirm more than 300 allegations of killings by the Russian armed forces in cases unrelated to the actual fighting.

“Arbitrary detention of civilians is widespread in the territories controlled by the Russian armed forces and affiliated armed groups. Despite the restrictions on access, we have documented 270 cases of arbitrary arrests and enforced disappearances,” she added.

The Kremlin had previously denied that its forces had committed crimes against civilians in Ukraine.

– Amanda Macias

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has reiterated its calls for the international sports community to suspend Russian and Belarusian sports organizations and remove Russian and Belarusian individuals from positions of influence associated with the sports community.

“National and international sports organizations should consider suspending the broadcast of sports competitions to Russia and Belarus,” the foreign ministry wrote in a statement, adding that “Russian and Belarusian official flags, emblems and anthems should be banned.”

The State Department wrote in a joint statement with representatives from more than 30 countries.

– Amanda Macias

All 30 NATO member states agreed the accession protocols for Finland and Sweden to join the military alliance, an important step in NATO expansion.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg welcomed the “Historic Day of Euro-Atlantic Security”.

“With 32 countries around the table, we will be stronger and safer, because we face a more dangerous world,” Stoltenberg wrote on Twitter.

In May, the two countries began the formal process of applying to NATO.

– Amanda Macias

Democratic Republic of Congo President Denis Pushlin said on Tuesday that pro-Russian separatist forces from the “People’s Republics” of Donetsk and Luhansk (commonly known as the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea and the LPR) are moving towards Donetsk province, according to Russia’s state news agency TASS. .

“We can already say that our legion, the first corps that participated and helped our brothers [in the liberation of the LPR]is already moving to the Donetsk direction as well as the 2nd Corps [from] Luhansk,” Pushlin said.

Russia and its proxies in eastern Ukraine describe the seizure of the Luhansk region, which occurred last weekend, as “liberation” even though Russia is widely seen as using a rationale to “protect” the breakaway separatist regions, which were founded in 2014. when Russia annexed. Crimea from Ukraine, as an excuse to invade Ukraine.

– Holly Eliat