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Russia has reported deaths from a Ukrainian attack on the annexed Crimea. According to the Tass news agency, Russia controls more than half of Vovchansk. All developments in the live blog.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban believes that fears that Russia could attack a NATO state are unfounded. He spoke of a “difficult and serious war” that Russia is waging against Ukraine. “If the Russians were strong enough to defeat the Ukrainians in one fell swoop, they would have done so already,” said Orban, pointing out that NATO’s military capabilities are “far superior” to those of Ukraine. It is therefore unlikely that Russia or any other country would attack NATO. “I do not think it is logical that Russia, which cannot even defeat Ukraine, would suddenly devour the entire Western world. The chances of that happening are extremely slim,” stressed Hungary’s Prime Minister.
Two more glide bombs were fired at Kharkiv during the night, said Ihor Terekhov, the mayor of the Ukrainian city. There were no injuries, and several residential buildings were slightly damaged.
Yesterday, according to Ukrainian sources, seven people were killed in Kharkiv as a result of Russian attacks. One of the largest printing works for literature in Ukraine was hit. “The Ukrainian book is the Ukrainian strength. That is why the enemy wants to destroy it,” said Ukrainian writer Serhij Zhadan on Facebook.
In an interview with the Russian state news agency Tass, the head of the Russian domestic intelligence service FSB, Alexander Bortnikov, has again made accusations against Ukraine that it was involved in the attack on a concert hall near Moscow. More than 140 people were killed as a result of the attack in March. “The investigation is still ongoing, but we can already say with certainty that the Ukrainian military intelligence service is directly involved in this attack,” said Bortnikov. However, he did not provide any evidence for his claims. The terrorist organization “Islamic State” claimed responsibility for the attack. The FSB chief also accused NATO of facilitating the transfer of “mercenaries and fighters of international terrorist organizations from the Middle East, North Africa and Afghanistan” to Ukraine so that they could fight against the Russian armed forces there.
According to Russian sources, at least two people have been killed as a result of Ukrainian attacks on the Crimean peninsula in the Black Sea, which was annexed by Moscow. During the night, the area around the city of Simferopol was attacked with rockets, Crimean governor Sergei Aksyonov said on Telegram. On social networks, residents reported the sound of explosions in regions near the Crimean cities of Alushta and Yalta.
The popular Telegram channel “Shot” spoke of a “massive attack” that the Russian air defenses had to fend off. There was initially no official reaction from Kiev.
Conflicting parties as a source
In the current situation, information on the course of the war, shelling and casualties provided by official bodies of the Russian and Ukrainian parties to the conflict cannot be directly verified by an independent source.
Russian forces control more than half of the territory of the border town of Vovchansk in the Ukrainian region of Kharkiv. This was reported by the Russian news agency Tass, citing a statement by Russian MP Viktor Vodolatsky. The cities of Slavyansk, Kramatorsk and Pokrovsk will be Russia’s next major targets once it has captured Vovchansk, Tass quoted Vodolatsky as saying.
According to Russian information, the main power line at the Ukrainian nuclear power plant in Zaporizhia has been cut off. The USA will provide Ukraine with further military aid. Read the live blog from Thursday.