Russia War against Ukraine: this is the situation
According to official figures, at least seven people, including children, were killed in a Russian attack on the Ukrainian city of Vilnyansk in the Zaporizhzhya region on Saturday. A further 31 people were injured in the rocket attack, the civil defense announced on Sunday night. "Unfortunately, the number of victims could still rise," wrote President Volodymyr Zelenskyi on the X platform.
30.06.2024, 05:03
SDA
According to regional military administrator Ivan Fedorov, an unspecified "critical infrastructure object" and several residential buildings were damaged in the attack. A video he distributed showed several burning buildings in a residential area.
The Russian Ministry of Defense, on the other hand, spoke of an attack against a military target. A railroad station near Zaporizhzhya was attacked with Iskander ballistic missiles, the Interfax agency quoted from a statement by the authority in Moscow. The Russian military leadership claimed that a train loaded with military goods had been hit. The information could not be independently verified.
It was only on Friday that the industrial city of Dnipro was targeted by Russian missiles. At least one person died in the attack and a further twelve were injured. "Our cities and communities suffer daily from these Russian attacks," complained Selensky. As an antidote, "we are destroying the terrorists where they are, eliminating Russian missile launchers, hitting them with long-range weapons and increasing the number of modern air defense systems in Ukraine," he explained.
Ukraine has been defending itself against the Russian war of aggression for more than two years. On Sunday night, there were again air raids in many places, especially in the east of the country.
Selenskyj pleased about the release of Crimean Tatar leader
Zelenskyi celebrated the return of Ukrainians from Russian captivity on Saturday. "Ten civilians and 90 soldiers have also been released from captivity this week," he said in a video address. A total of 3310 people have already returned to Ukraine from Russian captivity. "And we must find all our people and bring them back to Ukraine, every single one of them who is in captivity or has been deported - adults and children, military and civilians."
On Friday, ten Ukrainian civilians were released from Russian captivity. Among them was Nariman Dzhelyal, a leader of the Crimean Tatars. Zelensky received Dzhelyal, whom he had last met in 2021, for a brief conversation on Saturday.
Dzhelyal was arrested in Crimea, which had been annexed by Russia since 2014, shortly after the 2021 meeting, i.e. before the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and was later sentenced to 17 years in prison. He is alleged to have blown up a gas pipeline.
Ukraine rejects accusations of provocations from Minsk
Ukraine has refuted fears in neighboring Belarus about possible incursions across the common border. Ukraine poses no threat, but is rather strengthening its lines of defense along the border, said border guard spokesman Andriy Demchenko in Kiev on Saturday. There were no provocations. "They are probably confused themselves," he was quoted as saying by the Unian agency.
"The real threat comes from Belarus, there are enough Russian troops stationed there," said Andriy Kovalenko, head of the Center for Combating Disinformation in the National Security Council. Rather, the Russian military is trying to tie up Ukrainian forces on the border with Belarus.
The border troops of the authoritarian ex-Soviet republic of Belarus (formerly Belarus) have reportedly deployed additional units on the border with Ukraine. The measure was justified on the grounds of alleged espionage and sabotage preparations by Ukraine. Belarus is Russia's closest ally.
