Capitals (agencies)
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov announced that Switzerland is no longer a suitable place for negotiations regarding Ukraine. Lavrov said: The conference on Ukraine, scheduled in Switzerland in mid-June, “will aim to formulate a final ultimatum to Russia,” according to what the Russian Sputnik news agency reported. He added that Switzerland is focusing on the formula of Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky, but at the same time it is ignoring other existing initiatives, including China, which are considered “the most comprehensive.” Switzerland is scheduled to host a conference on Ukraine on June 15 and 16, near the city of Lucerne, without Russia attending.
On the field level, 30 towns in northeastern Ukraine were subjected to Russian bombing yesterday, while Moscow continues its new attack in the Kharkiv region, occupying tens of square kilometers within days.
The governor of the region, Oleg Sinigubov, said: “More than 30 towns in the Kharkiv region were subjected to artillery and mortar shelling,” and explained that 5,762 people have evacuated these towns since the start of the fighting. Russian forces crossed the border since last Friday to launch an attack towards the towns of Liptsi and Vovchansk, located about twenty and fifty kilometers respectively northeast of Kharkiv. Authorities in Kiev have been warning for weeks that Moscow may try to attack the northeastern border regions, while Ukraine faces delays in Western aid and a shortage of soldiers. Meanwhile, the governor of the Ukrainian Kharkiv region said: Russia continued its ground attack on the region yesterday to include new areas with small groups in an attempt to expand the front and disperse the Ukrainian forces.
On the other hand, Kiev yesterday claimed responsibility for targeting an oil facility and an electrical transmission station in the Belgorod and Lipetsk regions in western Russia, close to the border. According to a Ukrainian defense source: “Explosions occurred at the Oskolenbevtsnab oil port near the town of Stary Oskol, in addition to the electrical transfer station in Iletskaya,” noting that the operation was carried out by the intelligence service (SBU) using drones.
A Ukrainian strike on the town of Krasnodon in the Russian-controlled Ukrainian Luhansk region in the east led to the death of three people and the injury of four others, according to the occupation authorities.
The strike on the Krasnodon industrial zone “caused a large fire to break out, killing four people and wounding four others.”
On the other hand, the Russian Ministry of Defense confirmed that it intercepted 31 Ukrainian drones the day before yesterday in several regions of the country and in the Crimean Peninsula. Yesterday, Kiev claimed responsibility for targeting an oil facility and an electrical transmission station in the Belgorod and Lipetsk regions in western Russia, close to the border.
A Ukrainian defense source explained to Agence France-Presse: “Explosions occurred at the Oskolenbevtsnab oil port near the town of Stary Oskol, in addition to the electrical transfer station in Iletskaya,” noting that the operation was carried out by the intelligence service (SBU) using drones.
The Russian side did not provide any information regarding the attack on the oil station, but the Lipetsk governor confirmed that a fire had occurred in the electrical substation, without revealing its cause or accusing Ukraine.
Russian authorities said yesterday that at least 15 people were killed in an attack on a multi-storey residential complex in the Russian border region of Belgorod. The Civil Defense Authority said via the Telegram application that the bodies were recovered from under the rubble of the residential complex, which partially collapsed during the past hours. Belgorod Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said 27 people were injured in the attack.
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