The Ukrainian presidency believes that Russia will actually be ready to negotiate peace and withdraw its troops from the country after the liberation of Donetsk and Lugansk: the president’s adviser wrote on Twitter Mykhailo Podolyak. “Politically and psychologically, Russia is not yet ripe for real negotiations and troop withdrawals. But it will happen. Soon after the liberation of Donetsk and Lugansk,” he said, adding that now support for the war in Russia itself is low”. Everyone “from the oligarch to the shoemaker” is forming the opinion that “it’s time to end it.”
The war in the field
The air alert was declared throughout Ukraine this morning after reports of a MiG-31K capable of carrying Kinzhal missiles and another fighter taking off from Belarusian territory. UNIAN writes it. Citizens were advised to go to shelters immediately and remain safe until the alarm is over.
In Zaporizhzhia, the south-eastern region of Ukraine where Europe’s largest nuclear power plant is located, the police evacuated residents of the Shevchenkiv district after a Russian missile attack. The area was hit by Iskander-K with a cluster charge. “Explosive elements are scattered throughout the residential area. Due to the fact that that type of ammunition can explode at any moment, a temporary evacuation of the population has been carried out. Demining is underway.”, the police said, quoted by UNIAN.
The eastern Ukrainian region of Nikopol was heavily bombed by the Russian army during the night: artillery and Grads hit gas pipes, electricity networks and dozens of apartment blocks, rescuers put out two fires. The head of the Dnipropetrovsk regional council Mykola Lukashuk announced this on Telegram, adding that the Moscow troops also attacked the village of Marhanetska. Lukashuk posted photos of the destruction.
The appeal of Pope Francis
“Let us always remain close to our brothers and sisters of tormented Ukraine, close in prayer, with concrete solidarity. Peace is possible, let us not resign ourselves to war”. Pope Francis said it at the Angelus.
Lavrov’s words
“The United States and NATO are trying to dominate the Asia-Pacific region by militarizing it with the obvious goal of containing China and Russian interests,” Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told reporters at the ASEAN summit. is held in Phnom Penh. This was reported by the Russian state news agency Tass.
Tension on the Kakhovskaya dam
Tens of thousands of people in several settlements of the Kherson region will be in a flood zone if the Ukrainian armed forces blow up the dam of the Kakhovskaya hydroelectric power station, Vladimir Leontiev, head of the Novokakhovsky urban district, warned speaking to TASS. “The localities of Dnepryany, Korsunka, a large number of houses in Kherson, Kazachiy Lagery and all the area below will be inundated. This is tens of thousands of people. In particular, several thousand in New Kakhovka , which will be directly affected by the floods,” Leontiev said, “Novaya Kakhovka is located downstream, which means a height difference of 15-16 meters. In the event of a breakthrough, the wave will move downstream 60-70 kilometers a ‘now,” he added. For weeks Moscow and Kiev have been accusing each other of wanting to hit the dam of the Kakhovskaya hydroelectric plant in Kherson.
