A few days, and the Russian military operation in Ukraine ends its third month, as operations enter its 85th day today, while Russian forces continue to destroy Ukrainian military infrastructure sitesAnd the liberation of the Donbass lands, amid Western pressure in the form of military and material support for Ukraine, and a Russian hint of its nuclear capabilities.
In the latest developments, the governor of the Russian Kursk region announced the killing of a person by Ukrainian shells that fell on a village in the region, adding that the Ukrainian shells fell on a factory and several buildings in the village of “Tyotkino”, stressing that others were injured and receiving medical care. He said that according to initial information, the victim was a truck driver who was making a delivery to a local factory that had been bombed “several times”.
This comes as the Russian “TASS” news agency quoted Denis Pushilin, the leader of the pro-Russian separatists who control the Mariupol region, as saying that more than half of the Ukrainian fighters who were inside the Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol have now left.
It is not yet clear how many fighters Pushilin is referring to, and Ukraine and Russia have given conflicting accounts of how many have left the factory.
Simultaneously, the Ukrainian president’s advisor said that a ceasefire is “impossible” without the complete withdrawal of Russian forces and do not offer it to us. He also indicated that Kyiv is not interested in the new “Minsk” agreements and the renewal of the war in a few years.
Before that, the Russian Ministry of Defense said that high-precision air missiles of the Aerospace Forces hit two command posts, including the regional defense headquarters in the region of the village of Soledar in the Donetsk Republic, as well as 31 concentration areas of Ukrainian military personnel and equipment, including the sites of foreign mercenary units from European countries in “Nikolaev” and “Krasnogorovka”.
This comes as the soldiers of the Donsk People’s Republic army eliminated the Ukrainian armed formations with 152 mm “Gyatsent-B” long-range guns.
The precise fire of these guns allowed them to approach the town of Avdiivka, which is 13 km from the republic’s capital, Donetsk.
On the other hand, the Ukrainian Regional Defense Force said yesterday that its fighters blew up an armored train carrying Russian soldiers, but an adviser to President Volodymyr Zelensky said later that the attack was limited to railways near the train.
The Defense Force posted on Facebook that it carried out the attack in the city of Melitopol, which is located in the Zaporizhia region and in a belt of territories in southern Ukraine that has been controlled by Russian forces since the start of the military operation.
But several hours later, presidential adviser Oleksiy Aristovich gave a different account, saying that Ukrainian forces had blown up the tracks in front of the train.
Meanwhile, the Ukrainian Defense Ministry announced that it does not rule out any threats to launch missile strikes on Ukrainian military and civilian targets. It comes from the Black Sea and Belarus.
In the latest field developments, the Russian Defense Ministry announced the surrender of 694 militants of the “Azov” battalion and the Ukrainian soldiers who have been trapped in the “Azovstal” plant in Mariupol since Tuesday.
In the daily report, the official spokesman for the Russian Ministry of Defense said that among them 29 wounded, and in total, 959 militants have surrendered since last Monday, including 80 wounded, 51 of whom were placed in the Novoazovsk Hospital in the Donetsk People’s Republic.
Yesterday, Moscow once more waved its nuclear capabilities and saw it as a guarantee to rein in “those who are working to push the situation into a third world war”, with Russian officials holding the West responsible for “undermining strategic stability in Europe and the world.”
Deputy Chairman of the Russian Security Council, Dmitry Medvedev, declared that the Russian nuclear shield “has helped ensure the independence of the country for many years,” and pointed out the special importance of Russia’s nuclear capabilities now, as it “represses those who are trying to push it into the third world war.” Medvedev said during a meeting at the National Center for Physics and Mathematics, “The historical advantage of those who worked to develop our capabilities in this field is that a reliable nuclear shield has been created for Russia and its allies. This shield has ensured our independence for many years, and is currently helping to pacify those who are trying to push our country toward World War III or some other problem.
In a cautionary tone, Medvedev said, “The main thing is that our opponents should not forget this,” noting that his country continues to abide by the agreements reached at the international level stipulated in major agreements and documents related to nuclear weapons.