In the war against the Russian invading troops, Ukraine has once again emphatically called on the West to continue supplying heavy weapons. Advisers to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy specifically named multiple rocket launchers and anti-ship missiles. This would also break through the blockade of Ukrainian ports, it said. According to Ukrainian sources, there were again dead and injured in Russian attacks during the night. Fighting continues to be particularly fierce for the city of Sievjerodonetsk in eastern Ukraine.
Zelenskyj calls for classification of Russia as a terrorist state
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy accused Russia of a policy of terror. “I will always remind the world that Russia must finally be officially recognized as a terrorist state, as a sponsor of terrorism,” Zelenskyy said in a video address. At the beginning of the week he wanted to address the participants of the EU special summit in Brussels and also talk about it. “About terrorism, which today has actually become the only form of action by the Russian state against Europe,” said the President. “Terror on the territory of Ukraine. Terror on the energy market in Europe, not only in our country. Terror on the food market, worldwide. And what terror will come next?” Only together could the Europeans stop the politics of such a state, he stressed.
Ukraine: Need long-range multiple rocket launchers
Zelenskyi advisor Mykhailo Podoliak called on the West to supply modern, long-range multiple rocket launchers. “If the West really wants Ukraine to win, maybe it’s time to give us MLRS?” he asked on Twitter. MLRS are US-made artillery systems. “It’s hard to fight when you’re attacked from a distance of 70 kilometers and you don’t have anything to defend yourself with,” Podoljak said. According to a media report, the US government is considering sending multiple rocket launchers to Ukraine.
Presidential adviser Oleksiy Arestovich advocated deliveries of Harpoon-type missiles that can be used to attack ships. Arestovich was quoted as saying by the Unian agency that this would allow Ukraine to break through the Russian blockade of seaports.
Ukraine: Russia sanctions not the cause of the food crisis
Ukraine again firmly contradicted Russia that Western punitive measures against Moscow were the reason for the current lack of food security in the world. “Sanctions against Russia have nothing to do with the emerging global food crisis,” Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said on Twitter. “The only reason for shortages, rising prices and the threat of hunger is that the Russian military is physically blocking 22 million tons of Ukrainian food exports in our seaports,” Kuleba stressed. The West must bring Russia to an end of the blockade.
Only on Saturday did Russian President Vladimir Putin say in a phone call with Chancellor Olaf Scholz and French President Emmanuel Macron that the “flawed economic and financial policies of Western countries” and “anti-Russian sanctions” were responsible for the problems. The federal government always points out that there are no sanctions against food. According to the federal government, Scholz and Macron complained about the tense situation on the global food market during the phone call.
Ukraine: Reports of dead and injured in Russian attacks
According to the authorities, several civilians were killed or wounded in attacks on Ukrainian locations. Selenskyj accused Russia of “new terror”. These are “senseless, barbaric attacks” with rockets and mortars. The Ukrainian army said it had repelled Russian attacks. 33 “occupiers” were killed and six armored vehicles destroyed. The information is not independently verifiable.
The city of Sievjerodonetsk in the Donbass was particularly hard fought. Russian troops are trying to gain a foothold there, Ukrainian military expert Oleh Zhdanov said, according to Unian agency. According to Luhansk Governor Serhiy Hajdaj, the city is still under the Ukrainian flag. He contradicted reports from Russia that Sievjerodonetsk was completely taken.
Meanwhile, after the capture of the port city of Mariupol by Russian troops, Mayor Vadym Boychenko warned of the risk of infectious diseases. The sewage system and garbage disposal no longer worked, and the temperatures rose. “Therefore, our doctors are reporting the danger that may arise this summer: outbreaks of infectious diseases,” said Boychenko, who is not in the city himself.
That brings the day
You can read all further developments in our live ticker on the Ukraine war.
