► The Russian offensive in the Donbass has begun
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced on Monday evening that the Russian offensive for control of Donbass had begun. He reaffirmed his determination to fight to defend the eastern region of the country, partly controlled by separatists since 2014.
Fighting is taking place in the towns of Rubizhne and Popasna, according to the Ukrainian governor of the Luhansk region, Sergey Gaidai. According to the latter, the city of Kreminna would have fallen into the hands of the Russians, which however denies the adviser to the presidency, Oleksiy Arestovytch.
→ REREAD. Ukraine: the battle for Donbass has begun
Not far from the city of Lviv, Russia claims to have destroyed a large deposit of“foreign weapons, delivered to Ukraine during the last six days by the United States and European countries, which were stored there”. In total, the Russian army claims to have hit 16 Ukrainian military sites on Monday alone, in particular housing Tochka-U ammunition and tactical missiles. These armaments constitute a major stake, both for Moscow and for kyiv.
The Ukrainian army also warned Monday evening of a high threat of bombing in the Mykolaiv region (south).
► No humanitarian corridor today
Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk, for her part, asked Moscow on Monday to open humanitarian corridors in Berdiansk and Mariupol, in particular at the Azovstal metallurgical complex, where fighters are but where are also entrenched “many civilians” Ukrainians. On Tuesday, she announced that no evacuation corridor for civilians would be organized, for lack of agreement with the Russian side, and this for the third consecutive day.
The Mariupol City Council claimed on Tuesday morning that the Azovstal industrial site had been bombed and assured on Telegram that“at least 1,000 civilians, mostly women, children and the elderly, are in the underground shelters” of the metallurgical complex.
In the northeast, three civilians were killed Monday in new bombings against Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second city. In the West, Russian bombardments left seven dead and “eleven injured, including a child”according to local authorities.
► Putin decorates those responsible for the Boutcha massacre
Vladimir Putin awarded an honorary title on Monday, in particular for his “heroism”her “tenacity” and his “great professionalism”, to the 64th Motorized Rifle Brigade. However, Ukraine claimed that this unit had committed a massacre of civilians in Boutcha, on the outskirts of kyiv, which Moscow denies.
→ ANALYSIS. War in Ukraine: on Russian television, the parallel reality of the Boutcha drama
► US military aid arrives in Ukraine
On the diplomatic front, President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Monday that he hoped to obtain for his country ” in the coming weeks “ candidate status for EU membership. US President Joe Biden will take part in a virtual meeting on Tuesday devoted to the Russian offensive in Ukraine.
→ EXPLANATION. War in Ukraine: what the European Union is doing on the humanitarian front
Support for Ukraine, the United States announced on Monday that the first shipments of their new tranche of military aid (800 million dollars) had just arrived the day before at the borders of this country to be handed over to the Ukrainian army. .
