Spain says that the NATO summit must give “strong response” to Russia
The Spanish Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares, considered today that the NATO summit in Madrid must give rise to “a forceful response to the challenge that Russia represents, not only for Ukraine, but also for the model of life that it has given us decades of peace and prosperity” in the Euro-Atlantic space.
A few weeks before the Atlantic summit is held in the Spanish capital, Albares stressed this Friday that this meeting comes at a “historic moment” in which it will be necessary to “define the framework in which we are going to live in the coming years,” he explained. in a colloquium organized by the Spanish newspaper La Vanguardia in Barcelona (northeast).
The “strategic document that is going to be approved,” according to Albares, must also reflect “the threats from the southern flank” of NATO. It is a “defensive alliance of democracies” once morest threats such as Putin’s Russia, which Albares defined as a “serial aggressor.”
Pro-Russian forces say they took Liman, a key city in eastern Ukraine
The pro-Russian separatists in Donetsk said on Friday that they had taken the town of Liman, a key city in eastern Ukraine, where Moscow is gaining ground following more than three months of offensive.
In its Telegram account, the General Staff of the pro-Russian Donetsk separatist militia indicated that it “took full control” of Limán, with the support of the military units of the separatist Lugansk region and the Moscow armed forces.
At the moment, the Russian military has not issued any information and the French agency AFP might not independently verify this report.
Liman is a major rail hub northeast of Slaviansk, briefly seized by pro-Russian separatists in 2014, and Kramatorsk, the capital of the Donetsk region, which is under Ukrainian control.
The conquest of Limán would allow the Russian troops to clear the last obstacle to advance towards Sláviansk and Kramatorsk, in a maneuver to surround Severodonetsk and Lysychansk, further to the east.
The Russian army is also shelling Severodonetsk, whose governor has warned it might suffer the same fate as Mariupol, a major southeastern port devastated following weeks of siege.
Zelensky complains regarding the delay of the EU in approving new sanctions on Russia
The Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenski, complained regarding the delay of the European Union (EU) in approving a new package of sanctions once morest Russia for its invasion of Ukraine, which would include an oil embargo, and wondered why it is allowed to some partners block the plan.
In his usual recorded statement last night, which is collected by Ukrainian agencies this Friday, Zelensky referred to “the weeks that the EU has been trying to agree on a sixth package of sanctions once morest Russia” and recalled that Moscow “receives almost a billion euros a day from the Europeans for the supply of energy”, which allows it to continue financing the invasion of Ukraine.
The EU has been debating for weeks a sixth round of economic sanctions on Russia that would include an embargo on imports of Russian oil, a measure that requires unanimity for its approval, but which Hungary opposes on the grounds that it would seriously harm its economy.
Ukraine denounces that Russia is using “the heaviest non-nuclear weapons”
Russian troops are using “the heaviest non-nuclear weapons” in their offensive in Ukraine, such as long-range mobile rocket launcher systems capable of carrying thermobaric warheads, Mykhailo Podolyak, adviser to Ukrainian President Volodimir Zelenski, denounced on Friday.
The adviser posts a video on his Twitter account in which he shows the Russian Solntsepek rocket launcher system and the warheads used, accompanied by a text in which he stresses that “Russia already uses the heaviest non-nuclear weapons once morest Ukraine, burning the people”.
This system, according to the Ukrainian agency Ukrinform, is an improvement on an old Russian 220mm multiple rocket launcher system capable of using thermobaric warheads and that can be mounted on a tank chassis.
“Perhaps it is time to respond and give us MLRS?” Podolyak asks, referring to long-range mobile rocket launcher systems, following indicating that some partners of Ukraine have not wanted to provide such weapons for fear of escalation. in the conflict.
Russia warns once morest sending long-range weapons to Ukraine
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov warned once morest supplying Ukraine with weapons capable of reaching Russian territory, which would be an “unacceptable escalation.”
“The West has called for Russia to be dealt a defeat on the battlefield and for this the war must be continued, supplying the Ukrainian nationalists, the Ukrainian regime with weapons, including weapons that the Russian Federation can reach,” Lavrov said in a statement. interview with RT Arabic channel. He stressed that “this is precisely what (Ukrainian President Volodymyr) Zelensky is publicly demanding.”
The United States prepares to send long-range mobile rocket launchers to Ukraine
The United States is preparing to send Ukraine long-range mobile rocket launcher systems, more advanced than those provided so far to the Ukrainian authorities, who have been asking for them, CNN reported.
The US network, which cites unidentified government officials as a source, assured that the Biden Administration might announce, as early as next week, the shipment to Ukraine of multiple launch rocket systems, known as MLRS, for its acronym. in English, as part of a broader military assistance package to defend once morest the Russian invasion.
Another of the advanced rocket launchers requested by the Ukrainian authorities from the US and that Washington might start sending them is the High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS), from the same family as the MLRS, mobile, lighter and that can also launch rockets. long range.
Zelensky accuses Russia of genocide
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has accused Russia of “genocide” for the deportation of citizens and “mass killings of civilians” in Donbas.
In his regular late-night speech, Zelensky said that the current Russian offensive in Donbas “may leave the region uninhabited. They want to burn Popasna, Bakhmut, Lyman, Lysychansk and Sievierodonetsk to ashes. Like Volnovakha, like Mariupol.”
The Ukrainian president denounced that the Russian military, which has been occupying the country since February 24, is gathering in the cities and communities closest to the border with Russia, in Donetsk and Lugansk, “everyone they can to take the place of the dead and wounded in the occupation contingent”.
Russian pressure continues in the east
The High Command of the Ukrainian Army reported in its part this Friday that the Russian invaders have renewed their assault on the city of Sloviansk, in the Donetsk region, where they continue to fire on Ukrainian units, launch missile attacks and regroup troops.
According to the latest report from the Institute for the Study of War (USA), Russian forces have made steady gains in heavy fighting in eastern Ukraine in recent days, although Ukrainian defenses remain effective overall.
Russian forces have now taken control of more than 95% of the Luhansk oblast (region) and efforts to complete the capture of Sievierodonetsk will likely continue in the coming days. “Russian forces have made several gains in the past week, but their offensive operations remain slow,” the report says, because “they are badly degraded and will struggle to replace additional losses.”
Nine killed by bombings in Kharkov
At least nine people have died, including a five-month-old baby, and 19 others were injured in the shelling launched on Thursday followingnoon by the Russian army on the city of Kharkov, in eastern Ukraine, according to authority sources. regional military, reproduced by the Ukrinform portal.
The head of the Kharkiv Regional Military Administration, Oleh Syniehubov, said that the shelling was carried out using multiple rocket launchers and Tornado and Smerch artillery, and that the attacks were launched from the north of the region and only once morest residential areas. “So the enemy is terrorizing the civilian population, which was not observed in recent weeks due to the success of the Ukrainian army,” he added.
Bombings in Dnipro
Russian forces bombed targets in the Dnipro region, in central Ukraine, in recent hours, causing significant damage.
In Dnipro, the fourth most populous city in Ukraine, it has been a complicated night and morning, with “several attacks,” Valentyn Reznichenko, head of the Dnipropetrovsk Regional Military Administration, announced on Friday through Telegram.
He specified that the rescue teams are looking for survivors among the rubble of the buildings that were hit by the enemy and that, according to him, caused “serious destruction” in the city, located on the banks of the Dnieper River, which crosses the country from the north. to south.
Pro-Russian forces claim they have conquered Liman, a key city to advance into eastern Ukraine
The pro-Russian separatists in Donetsk said today that they have seized the town of Liman, in eastern Ukraine, an important and strategic railway junction that opens the route to control the regions where the fighting is currently concentrated.
In its Telegram account, the General Staff of the Donetsk separatist militia indicated that it “took full control” of Liman, with the support of the military units of the pro-Russian region of Lugansk and the armed forces of Moscow.
At the moment, the Russian military has not issued any statement to confirm the information.