Russia takes control of Lugansk by launching “a thousand artillery shells every hour”

After more than 120 days of military conflict, the Kremlin is about to achieve one of its objectives, “liberate” the entire Donbas. And it is that this Saturday the Russian forces have managed to seize the total control of the Lugansk regionwhich, together with the Donetsk Territory, make up the entire Donbas.

According to Oleksiy Reznikov, the Ukrainian Defense Minister, this has been achieved thanks to the fact that the Russian army launches up to a thousand artillery shells every hour. “They launch a thousand projectiles at us every hour. Unfortunately, the Russians have inexhaustible resources. The only thing that can be opposed to this is effective weapons with another employment doctrine, with precision attacks,” said the minister.

Specifically, Ukraine lost this past Saturday the last bastion with the Ukrainian flag in the east of the country, Lisichansk. This city was the last Ukrainian stronghold in the Lugansk region, in eastern Ukraine, where fighting is already taking place inside the city.

[Ucrania se retira de Severodonetsk y entrega una zona clave del Donbás al Ejército ruso]

Added to this is that hehe Russian forces already control the entire city of Severodonetsk, as recognized by its mayor, Okelsander Striuk. “The city is totally under the occupation of the Russian Federation. They are trying to impose their own order,” Striuk said.

Striuk has explained that the city is destroyed by the bombing to the point that it will be difficult for someone to live in it. However, the city hospital still has stocks of medicine and could treat whoever needs it.

Likewise, the military command in kyiv considers that the resistance offered in the Lugansk and Donetsk regions has managed to wear down the Russian army and it has bought time for Ukraine to receive heavy Western weapons that will allow it to counter Russia’s superiority, especially in artillery. And it is that According to the advisor to the Ukrainian Presidency Mijailo Podoliak, Russia has changed its initial strategy and is now betting on a long war, relying on the quantitative superiority of its arsenal.

“The next three months will be extremely difficult. But we are prepared to fight at any level of intensity,” the senior official said. In any case, Podoliak He stressed that Ukraine will sit down to negotiate a peace plan with Russia “only from positions of strength”, when the situation on the battle fronts favors the Ukrainian Army.

Russia strikes from Belarus

On the other hand, the kyiv authorities denounced that six Russian Tu-22M3 bombers, which had taken off from the Russian “Shaikovka” airfield, used the airspace of Belarus to launch 12 cruise missiles against areas in northern Ukraine. “This is the first case of an aircraft attack from Belarusian airspace. The bombing is directly related to the Kremlin’s efforts to involve Belarus in the war in Ukraine as a direct participant,” the Defense Ministry’s Main Intelligence Directorate said. from Ukraine.

Keep in mind that the attack coincided with the visit to Russia of the Belarusian president, Alexander Lukashenkoto whom the head of the Kremlin, Vladimir Putin, informed him that in the coming months Moscow will supply the Armed Forces of Belarus with Iskander-M missiles, capable of carrying nuclear weapons.

Normality does not come to kyiv

Despite the fact that kyiv returned to being part of the territory controlled by the Ukrainian government at the beginning of April, normalcy is still far from the streets of the capital. And it is that the Ukrainian authorities announced this Saturday the entry into force of a curfew which will be in force from eleven at night until five in the morning from this past night of June 25 until July 3.

This was reported by the head of the regional military administration, Oleksiy Kuleba: “We remind you that the curfew prohibits being on the street, visiting other public places and moving around the settlements by transport or on foot,” announced Kuleba, who said that a special pass will allow exceptions to be authorized. “It is necessary for the safety of people. Our goal is to bring life to all corners of the kyiv region as soon as possible, to make the settlements suitable for the mass return of residents,” Kuleba added.

It cannot be ignored that the announcement comes after Russian troops launched dozens of missiles on Ukrainian territory at dawn on Friday. In this same line, the LGTBI+ pride celebration, that is taking place around the world, has not been carried out in the streets of the Ukrainian capital as a result of the Russian invasion.

[La Muerte de Sasha, el ‘Niño de Chernóbil’ que Amaba el País Vasco y el Batallón Azov]

Thus, this march was held this Saturday in Warsaw, which was organized jointly with kyiv. The event in Warsaw has been held every year since 2001except in 2020, when it was suspended due to the pandemic.

Specifically, “Parada Równości” (Equality Parade), the main convening organization, invited Kyiv Pride to participate together. “As the LGBTI+ community in Ukraine we want to remind the world of the war. If we want LGBTI+ rights to be exercised we need the war to stop,” said Lenny Emson, executive director of kyiv Pride.

“It is very important for us to be here, to represent Ukraine in Warsaw,” said Emson, who explained that it was the Polish organization that contacted them after the Russian invasion of Ukraine. “Parada Równości was a partner organization for many years. On February 25 they told us: ‘How can we help? What can we do?’ And they are helping us with medicines, protecting people, helping our refugees,” added Emson. .