Russian airstrikes are focused on Mykolaiv, a city in southern Ukraine that is near the Black Sea coast between Russian-occupied Crimea and the Ukrainian port of Odessa.
The attacks are part of a larger effort by the Kremlin to shore up its positions near Crimea, we well as the Zaporizhzhia region in the north, according to the latest update from the British Defense Ministry on Sunday. At the same time, Ukrainian troops are pushing back.
“Ukrainian forces have been applying pressure on the Russian defensive line in Kherson Oblast for over a month now, and recent political statements from both Zelenskky and the Deputy Prime Minister have warned of forthcoming offense operations to force Russia out of the areas it currently controls, “the ministry tweeted on Sunday.
Latest updates:
►The White House warned on Saturday that Russia is trying to acquire “attack capable” unmanned aerial vehicles from Iran and said it had intelligence that Russian officials visited an airfield in central Iran at least twice to view the weapons-capable drones.
►Ukraine reported at least 17 more civilians killed on Saturday in Russian attacks with missiles and shelling throughout the country.
Russians strike in Mykolaiv
OKROVSK, Ukraine — Russian missiles hit industrial facilities at a strategic city in southern Ukraine Sunday as Moscow continued efforts to expand its gains in the country’s east.
Mykolaiv Mayor Oleksandr Senkevych said that the Russian missiles struck an industrial and infrastructure facility in the city, a key shipbuilding center in the estuary of the Southern Bug river. There was no immediate information about casualties.
Mykolaiv has faced regular Russian missile strikes in recent weeks as the Russians have sought to soften Ukrainian defenses.
The Russian military has declared a goal to cut off Ukraine’s entire Black Sea coast all the way to the Romanian border. If successful, such an effort would deal a crushing blow to the Ukrainian economy and trade and allow Moscow to secure a land bridge to Moldova’s separatist region of Transnistria, which hosts a Russian military base.
–Associated Press
Russian leader tells troops to ‘intensify’ attacks
Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu gave “instructions to further intensify the actions of units in all operational areas, in order to exclude the possibility of the Kyiv regime launching massive rocket and artillery strikes on civilian infrastructure and residents of settlements in the Donbas and other regions, ” his ministry said Saturday.
Though Russia’s campaign is focused on the eastern Donbas, Saturday attacks struck areas in the north and south of Ukraine as well, with the country’s second-largest city of Kharkiv seeing heavy bombardment in recent days.
Russia looking at drones in Iran, White House says
Russian officials visited Iran twice in recent weeks to view “attack capable” drones it intends to use against Ukrainian forces, the White House said Saturday.
“We assess an official Russian delegation recently received a showcase of Iranian attack-capable UAVs,” White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan said.
“This suggests ongoing Russian interest in acquiring Iranian attack-capable UAVs,” I added.
Antidoping authorities allow exceptions for Ukrainians
International doping authorities approved special exemptions for seven Ukrainian athletes, allowing them to compete in world championships though they hadn’t been tested enough in the lead-up due to the war in their country.
The Athletics Integrity Unit announced Friday that the other 15 Ukrainians, along with 134 athletes from five other countries categorized as “high risk” because of poor testing protocols, were entered into the championships. No athletes from any of the countries are being excluded.
At the Olympics last year, 20 athletes were not allowed to participate under what’s known as “Rule 15,” which was designed to bring Ukraine, Bahrain, Ethiopia, Kenya, Morocco, Nigeria and Belarus into compliance with global testing rules.
Contributing: The Associated Press
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George is Digismak’s reported cum editor with 13 years of experience in Journalism