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Vladimir Putin’s new targets in the Ukraine war are now “heat, water and electricity” as Russian troops further tore into Donetsk, Kherson and Luhansk in eastern Ukraine in the last 24 hours, officials said.
Mr Putin has focused his “ire and his fire” on Ukraine’s civilians, the US secretary of state Antony Blinken said yesterday after a two-day Nato meeting.
“Heat, water, electricity … These are president Putin’s new targets. He’s hitting them hard. This brutalisation of Ukraine‘s people is barbaric,” the top US official said.
The war is raging fiercest in Ukraine’s east, where Russian troops have rained mortar, artillery and shells, signalling a renewed military offensive and forcing Kyiv to respond aggressively.
Donetsk region was the site of the heaviest fighting on Wednesday, where Russia has shelled several towns, including Bakhmut, nearby Soledar and Opytne, the Ukrainian military said last night.
Mr Putin’s soldiers have taken defensive positions and trained tank, mortar and artillery fire on Ukrainian positions and on the regional capital of Kherson, they said.
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Ukraine readying ‘more powerful’ countermeasure, says Zelensky
Volodymyr Zelensky has said that his administration is trying to assess Russia’s intentions and readying a countermeasure as Ukraine’s eastern region is once again witnessing a fierce battle.
“The main issues are the Donetsk region, Luhansk region, Kharkiv region, Zaporizhzhia region, Kherson region, Crimea, frontline territories and our state border. We are analysing the intentions of the occupiers and are preparing a countermeasure – an even more powerful countermeasure than now,” Mr Zelensky said in his address last night.
Ukraine is also considering the issue of providing for the military and supplying new equipment and ammunition, he said.
“I separately held a meeting on energy and communication issues. We record the results of what has already been done to protect our systems. We are preparing new solutions,” Mr Zelensky said.
The Ukrainian wartime president said that the country is also preparing new solutions to “prevent any opportunity for Russia to manipulate the internal life of Ukraine”, details of which they will provide details in due time.
Arpan Rai1 December 2022 04:31
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Blinken says ‘brutalisation of Ukraine’s people barbaric’
US secretary of state Antony Blinken has accused Vladimir Putin of focusing “his ire and his fire” on besieged Ukraine’s civilian population, warning Moscow that its strategy will fail to drive a wedge between Ukraine’s supporters.
“Heat, water, electricity … these are President Putin’s new targets. He’s hitting them hard. This brutalisation of Ukraine’s people is barbaric,” Mr Blinken told a news conference in Bucharest following a two-day Nato meeting.
Western allies pledged support to Moldova, Georgia and Bosnia-Herzegovina yesterday at the Nato foreign ministers meeting amid the threat from Russia, Nato Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg and ministers said.
In response, Russian foreign ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said Nato was “absolutely not interested in a political and diplomatic solution in Ukraine”.
Arpan Rai1 December 2022 04:05
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Good morning, welcome to our coverage of the Ukraine war on Thursday, 1 December.
Arpan Rai1 December 2022 03:32