Ukraine: strike in Kramatorsk, the head of security sacked by Parliament


THE ESSENTIAL

In the Donbass, Ukrainian forces defend mainly on a Sloviansk-Siversk-Bakhmut line, Moscow seems to consider the conquest of Sloviansk a “lower priority” compared to “localized and discreet gains around Siversk and Bakhmut”, on which “military resources” and “high-level leaders” are engaged, according to the American Institute for the Study of War (ISW).

Russian troops thus hit residential buildings in Avdiivka, Soledar, and Bakhmout, according to the Ukrainian presidency, which listed Tuesday “two missile strikes on Toretsk”, behind Bakhmout, as well as “bombing of industrial areas” in particular in Kramatorsk. Near Bakhmout, the Ukrainian army claims to have “successfully repelled” several “assault attempts”. Russian forces claim to have killed 60 Ukrainian soldiers in Dolina, in the same area.

The main information:

  • Shelling continues in eastern Ukraine, where Russian forces claim to have killed 60 Ukrainian soldiers
  • The Ukrainian Parliament has voted to dismiss the head of the security services (SBU) and the general prosecutor, proposed by President Volodymyr Zelensky
  • Vladimir Putin is in Tehran to meet Turkish President Erdogan
  • The UN has counted nearly 5,000 confirmed dead, including more than 300 children, but acknowledges that the true number is probably much higher

According to kyiv, Moscow also fired shells and rockets at Kramatorsk, the administrative center of the part of Donbass still in the hands of kyiv, located about twenty km from the front. AFP noted the destruction caused by a missile that fell at the end of the morning in a small garden surrounded by blocks of buildings in Kramatorsk. “At this stage, we have one death,” Igor Ieskov, communications officer at the city’s town hall, told AFP, while a senior police official reported six injuries. The Ukrainian army also lists Russian “losses” during a “completely failed” “reconnaissance” mission in the north of the country.

Six people including a child injured in the South

The Russian army fired seven missiles at the South and particularly the Odessa region, injuring at least six people including a child, according to kyiv. “One missile was destroyed by anti-aircraft defense. Six others hit a village where several residential buildings and other structures were destroyed,” according to the presidency. The Russian Ministry of Defense for its part indicated that strikes on Odessa had destroyed a stock of ammunition supplied by the West.

The head of the security services and the general prosecutor sacked

The Ukrainian parliament on Tuesday voted to dismiss the head of the security services (SBU), Ivan Bakanov, and the general prosecutor, Iryna Venediktova, proposed by President Volodymyr Zelensky. Andriy Smirnov, deputy head of the presidency, said Monday that it was “to avoid any influence of these two officials on the criminal investigations against members of the security services and the prosecution suspected of cooperation with Russia”. On Monday, Volodymyr Zelensky again announced a “review of cadres” within the SBU, while at least three senior officials of this organization have been suspected of high treason in recent months.

Putin in Tehran

Russian President Vladimir Putin arrived in Tehran on Tuesday, where he will meet Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan for the first time since the Russian invasion of Ukraine began. They will discuss in particular the agreement being negotiated by Russia, Ukraine, Turkey and the United Nations, which aims to bring out through the Black Sea some 20 million tonnes of cereals blocked in Ukrainian silos.

Tens of thousands dead

There is no overall assessment of the civilian victims of the conflict. The UN has counted nearly 5,000 confirmed deaths, including more than 300 children, but recognizes that their true number is undoubtedly much higher. For the city of Mariupol (southeast), which fell in May after a terrible siege, the Ukrainian authorities evoked some 20,000 dead.

On the military level, the British Chief of Staff, Admiral Tony Radakin, estimated Sunday at 50,000 the number of Russian soldiers killed or wounded – as well as 1,700 tanks and 4,000 armored vehicles destroyed. Western security sources had been talking for weeks about 15,000 to 20,000 Russian soldiers killed. kyiv reported 10,000 dead in its troops. No independent statistics are available.

Displaced or Refugee Ukrainians

More than six million Ukrainians are internally displaced, according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). They join the approximately 5.5 million Ukrainians registered as refugees in other European states since the start of the invasion.



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