Ukrainian army reports heavy attacks “from all directions”
“We have to assume that Putin will take Ukraine”
Prof. Maximilian Terhalle, an expert in geostrategy, analyzes the current situation in Ukraine, Putin’s behavior and NATO’s options in an interview with WELT.
In the night to Sunday, the Russian army apparently continued its attacks in many places. The Ukrainian military wants to oppose the “determined resistance”. There is heavy fighting around a military airport near the capital Kiev.
DAccording to media reports, the Ukrainian armed forces are still being subjected to heavy attacks by the Russian army “from all directions” in many places. However, according to a statement by the Ukrainian army that was distributed on Sunday night, the enemy was being met with “resolute resistance”.
According to this account, among other things, a heavy Russian attack Kharkiv cut off in the east of the country. at Kherson in the south, on the other hand, Russian units succeeded in advancing after bitter fighting. Also in the region Luhansk heavy fighting was raging in the east. The information could not be independently verified.
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Also in the capital Kiev fighting continued in the outskirts. According to media reports, the residents faced another “difficult night”.
A large explosion outside the city was seen on the CNN television pictures, the sky is lit up by a fire.
Apparently, an oil depot near the air base in Vasylkiv, around 40 kilometers south of Kiev. The mayor of the place confirmed this to the portal “Kyiv Independent“. There was fierce fighting around the airport the day before. According to the Ukrainian military, a Russian airborne operation with paratroopers was repelled.
Russian army captures southern airfield
During their attack on Ukraine, Russian troops had previously seized a strategically important former airfield in the south of the country. As the regional administration of Big city Berdyansk announced on Saturday that there is heavy Russian military equipment at the airport. According to media reports, the city is surrounded by Russian troops, who could advance further towards Mariupol from there and take the city in a pincer.
Source: dpa infographic; Infographic WORLD
Mariupol is near the eastern Ukrainian separatist areas and is the last major government-controlled port on the Azov Sea. The authorities imposed a curfew.
A damaged apartment building after a rocket attack on the Ukrainian city of Mariupol
Source: dpa/Evgeniy Maloletka
According to the Defense Ministry in Moscow on Saturday, Russian troops also have control over the Ukrainian city of Melitopol taken in the southeast of the country. This was announced by Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov. Soldiers therefore took all measures to ensure the safety of the population and “to rule out provocations by the Ukrainian secret services and nationalists”. The city is located near the Sea of Azov.
Russia orders expansion of military offensive
Russia had previously ordered an expansion of its military offensive. The armed forces had been ordered to now “the Offensive in all directions to expand,” said the Ministry of Defense in Moscow. The order was justified by the fact that Ukraine had refused negotiations with Russia. So far, the Ukrainian military has successfully repelled the Russian attacks. According to Presidential Advisor Mykhailo Podolyak, there are fighting with Russian soldiers in the Ukrainian capital Kiev and in the south of the country.
A soldier in Kiev
Source: dpa/Emilio Morenatti
Small groups of Russian soldiers tried to escape on Saturday night Kiev to invade and engaged in skirmishes with Ukrainian troops to gain control of the capital and crush the country’s leadership, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s adviser said. However, the Russian military had not succeeded in gaining ground, and the Ukrainian troops still had control over the situation in Kiev. But there are “unfortunately sabotage groups,” said Kiev Mayor Vitali Klitschko.
According to their own statements, the authorities have distributed numerous weapons to the residents for further defense. A total of 25,000 automatic weapons and 10 million cartridges were issued, Interior Minister Denys Monastyrskyj said in a video. Anti-tank weapons were also handed out. “Kiev will defend itself,” said Monastyrskyj. He said he was proud when he saw people defending their towns, villages, roads and houses. “They organize themselves, there is no looting or robbery.”
The latest figures on the war in Ukraine
A total of 198 civilians were killed as of Saturday, according to Ukraine’s Health Ministry. Russia denies that civilian facilities are being attacked and for its part accused the Ukrainian side of shelling residential areas in the eastern Ukrainian separatist region of Donbass.
Both warring factions took stock: the Ukrainian military declared that 3,500 Russian soldiers had been killed and another 200 taken prisoner. In addition, 14 airplanes, 8 helicopters and 102 tanks as well as more than 530 other military vehicles were destroyed.
Russia reported that more than 800 Ukrainian military objects had been “out of action”. 14 military airfields, 19 command posts, 24 S-300 anti-aircraft missile systems and 48 radar stations were destroyed, and eight Ukrainian Navy boats were hit.
This information from the warring parties cannot be independently verified. Reliable information is becoming increasingly difficult to obtain. Many Western journalists have left Kiev.