Updated on 07/02/2022 at 11:35 p.m
- The situation in the embattled East remains serious for Ukraine on the 129th day of the war.
- Russian airstrikes are also continuing elsewhere.
- Banned cluster munitions are said to have been used in Sloviansk, and phosphorus bombs on Snake Island.
According to their own statements, following weeks of fighting, pro-Russian separatists have completely surrounded the city of Lysychansk in the eastern Ukrainian region of Luhansk. Separatist representative Andrei Marochko told the Russian agency Interfax that “the last strategically important heights” were occupied on Saturday with the help of the Russian army. The President of the Russian republic of Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov, said: of Russia Troops have already advanced into the center of Lysychansk. This information might not be independently verified.
The Ukrainian side also spoke of fierce fighting at the weekend, but continued to describe the city as contested. The governor of the region, Serhiy Hayday, said the Russians were trying to storm Lysychansk from different directions.
Lysychansk is the last large town in the Luhansk region that the Ukrainian troops have recently held. The conquest of the territory is one of the declared goals Moscow in the war that has been going on for more than four months. Last week, the Ukrainian military had to give up the city of Sievjerodonetsk, which is only across the river from Lysychansk.
Also elsewhere in the East Ukraine Russia continued its attacks on a broad front. The Ministry of Defense in Moscow claimed that several Ukrainian weapons caches were destroyed in airstrikes.
Also read: All current information on the war in Ukraine in the live ticker
Russia is said to have used banned cluster munitions
The Ukrainian General Staff in Kyiv reported that in the area around Kharkiv – the country’s second largest city – the Russian army is trying to recapture lost positions with the support of artillery. Information from the combat zones can hardly be checked independently.
According to Ukrainian sources, Russia is said to have used banned cluster munitions in rocket attacks on the city of Sloviansk on Saturday night, killing at least four people. Civilian areas where there are no military installations were hit, Mayor Vadym Lyakh reported on the Telegram messenger service.
Cluster munitions are rockets and bombs that burst in mid-air over the target, releasing many small explosive devices. Their use is outlawed under international law.
Ukraine also accused Russia of dropping phosphorus bombs on Snake Island in the Black Sea, which has since been evacuated. Such bombs, which can cause severe burns and poisoning, are not explicitly prohibited. However, their use once morest civilians and in urban areas is outlawed.
The spokesman for the Ministry of Defense in Moscow, Igor Konashenkov, did not respond to any of the allegations. Russia cleared the strategically important island it captured earlier in the war this week.
The Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podoliak spoke of a change in the Russian army’s warfare. “It’s a new Russian tactic: attacking neighborhoods and putting pressure on Western political elites to force Ukraine to sit at the negotiating table.” Moscow pays no attention to how the world reacts to “inhumane attacks” with cruise missiles on residential areas. However, this tactic will not work, said the President’s adviser Volodymyr Selenskyj.
Is Russia increasingly relying on inaccurate missiles?
According to British estimates, Russia is increasingly using inaccurate missiles in Ukraine. The reason is probably that stocks of modern, accurate weapons are dwindling, according to the Ministry of Defense in London. Surveillance footage showed that a shopping center in the eastern Ukrainian city of Kremenchuk was most likely hit by a Ch-32 missile. This is a further development of the Soviet missile Ch-22, which is still not optimized to hit ground targets accurately. At least 20 people were killed in Monday’s attack in Kremenchuk.
Britain protested Russia’s treatment of prisoners of war following reports of the capture of two more Britons in eastern Ukraine. “We condemn the exploitation of prisoners of war and civilians for political ends and have raised this with Russia,” the State Department said. The Russian state agency TASS had previously reported, citing pro-Russian separatists, that two Britons had been charged with “mercenary activities”.
According to the Russian army, it hit numerous military targets in air raids. Ministry spokesman Konashenkov claimed that Ukraine had suffered “high losses in people and material”. In Ukraine, residential buildings and other civilian facilities have repeatedly been damaged in Russian attacks in recent months. The Ukrainian general staff also spoke of high losses on the opposing side on Saturday. The information cannot be checked precisely.
At a conference for Ukraine, which starts in Lugano on Monday, the Ukrainian government intends to present ideas on how to rebuild the country. It is a question of coordinating future tasks with donor countries and financial institutions. There are representatives from around 40 countries and around 20 international organizations. At the start, President Zelenskyj is to be connected via video.
Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) is expected to visit Paris on Monday. It will also be regarding the war in Ukraine. (dpa/fra)
