Ukrainian soldier inspects a hole left in the House of Culture, in Druzhkivka, south of Kramatorsk, eastern Ukraine. (AFP)

Saturday, July 9, 2022

Russians try to advance in east Ukraine 

Ukrainian forces have battled to block Russian military advances into the eastern region of Donbass, a provincial governor said, as Ukraine urged its allies to send it more weapons.

Ukrainian officials reported heavy Russian shelling of towns and villages as Russian forces attacked from several directions.

“Russians are firing along the entire front line,” the governor of the Luhansk region, Serhiy Gaidai, said on the Telegram message system. “The enemy is trying to advance from the settlements of the Luhansk region to the first villages of Donetsk region.”

Russia assembling reserve forces near Ukraine for future offensive, says British intelligence

Russia is moving reserve forces from across the country and assembling them near Ukraine for future offensive operations, British military intelligence said.

A large proportion of the new Russian infantry units are probably deploying with MT-LB armoured vehicles taken from long-term storage as their primary transport, Britain’s Ministry of Defence tweeted in a regular bulletin. 

Blinken says raised concerns with China’s Wang Yi over Russia alignment

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said he had discussed Russia’s offensive in Ukraine during talks with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi during which he also raised concerns over Beijing’s alignment with Moscow.

Blinken made the comments at a news conference on the Indonesia’s island of Bali after the talks with Wang that lasted a little over five hours. 

Russia continues to ‘raise true hell,’ Ukraine governor says

Russian forces are managing to “raise true hell” in Ukraine’s eastern industrial heartland despite reports of them taking an operational pause, a regional governor said as the Ukrainian government urged people in Russian-captured areas in the south to evacuate “by all possible means.”

Deadly Russian shelling was reported in Ukraine’s east and south.

The governor of Luhansk, Serhiy Haidai, said Russia launched over 20 artillery, mortar and rocket strikes in the province overnight and its forces were pressing toward the border with neighbouring Donetsk.

Russia continues to ‘raise true hell,’ Ukraine governor says

The first batch of up to 10,000 inexperienced Ukrainian military recruits set to train in Britain over the coming months have started drills, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) said.

The new British-led programme involves 1,050 UK service personnel training the Ukrainian volunteers, who have little to no military experience, at MoD sites across England for several weeks.

The crash course is based on Britain’s basic soldier training, covering weapons handling, battlefield first aid, fieldcraft, patrol tactics and the laws around armed conflict.

Situation deteriorates in Sievierodonetsk — Ukrainian official

A Ukrainian regional official warned of deteriorating living conditions in a city captured by Russian forces two weeks ago, saying Sievierodonetsk is without water, power or a working sewage system while the bodies of the dead decompose in hot apartment buildings.

Gov. Serhiy Haidai said the Russians were unleashing indiscriminate artillery barrages as they try to secure their gains in eastern Ukraine’s Luhansk province. Moscow this week claimed full control of Luhansk, but the governor and other Ukrainian officials said their troops retained a small part of the province.

“Luhansk hasn’t been fully captured even though the Russians have engaged all their arsenal to achieve that goal,” Haidai told The Associated Press. “Fierce battles are going on in several villages on the region’s border. The Russians are relying on tanks and artillery to advance, leaving scorched earth.”

For live updates from Friday (July 8), click here

Source: AP