Russia is firing intensely along the entire contact line and deep behind the frontline in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, the Ministry of Defence spokesman Oleksandr Motuzyanyk reported today. The situation remains difficult, but the Ukrainian Armed Forces (UAF) keep it under control and know all the enemy's plans.
Occupiers are mostly controlling Lyman, and Ukrainian forces took new fortified positions in these directions. "The fighting in the Lyman direction is especially intense. Most of Lyman is not under the Ukrainian forces' control. As well as the Svitlodarsk direction: the UAF troops regrouped to take fortified positions. The enemy is now at the Svitlodarsk community's territory," – said the Donetsk Regional Military Administration Pavlo Kyrylenko in his commentary for Hromadske.
In the early morning, the enemy forces struck the National Guard's training ground. According to the local territorial defense head Hennadiy Korban, the missile hit a barrack killing "around 10 people, injuring 30-35".
In the Homel region, near the Ukrainian border, Belarus deployed a maneuvering group of electronic warfare. Up to seven battalions of the Belarussian armed forces have intensified guarding the joint border with our state. The UAF General Staff highlighted that the threat of missiles and airstrikes from this country's territory remains.
The head of the Office of the president of Ukraine's advisor Mykhaylo Podolyak published a video of russia's usage of the TOS-1A Solntsepyok system. He mentioned that the Western partners must provide Ukraine with multiple launch rocket systems for defence.
"The video shows russian flamethrower system Solntsepyok working. Some partners are hesitant whether to provide the necessary weapon, fearing escalation. Escalation? The russian federation is already using the heaviest non-nuclear military equipment against Ukrainians, burning people alive," – Podolyak wrote on Twitter.
Great Britain's Foreign Secretary Elizabeth Truss emphasized during her visit to Prague that the allies are legitimate to send tanks and aircraft to Ukraine.
In the Kherson region, the UAF's fighter jet shot down a russian Su-35 which was hunting the aircraft of Ukrainian assault aviation.
In the Kharkiv region, the anti-aircraft missile and artillery division of the 95th Air Assault Brigade destroyed one more russian combat helicopter Ka-52 "Alligator". According to the Air Assault Forces of the UAF Command's press service, it's 67th air target of the occupiers destroyed by the AAF fighters.
Ukrainian troops eliminated up to 60 occupiers and inflicted losses on the enemy equipment in the Task Force East operational area.
More horrific news came from Maripol: another place of mass death of civilians has been discovered there. While dismantling the debris at the former "Oktyabr" plant territory, around 70 bodies were found.
It was russian emergency workers who carried out the search works in the temporarily occupied city, the mayor's advisor Petro Andryushchenko mentioned. "There was no identification process, although the locals say there wasn't much to identify considering the bodies' state," – he wrote.
Andryushchenko also reported that the occupiers took 280 Mariupol citizens, including 36 children, to a filtration camp in the village of Bezymiane.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy during an inline meeting in the Foreign Policy Community of Indonesia think-tank thanked all the journalists' community for objectively covering the events in Ukraine since the first days of the full-scale russian invasion and for delivering truth to people in different parts of the world.
"I want the world to hear my voice. And only due to journalists did we manage to unite the world, and we ourselves united inside our state," – Zelenskyy noted. He emphasized that in the fight against russian aggression honest and truthful journalists "matter no less than weapons".
President called on journalists to carry on their work and cover the events in Ukraine "as it brings the victory of our state closer". "I want to ask you not to leave us as you are bridges between Ukraine and other countries. This information saves our lives. This is what we cannot survive. It is a great job, and I thank all the journalists' community. There are no orders here – just talk about what you see. Tell the truth, and I'm sure we will prevail. Because the truth will prevail anyway," – Zelenskyy urged.
President also expressed his condolences to the families of the journalists, camerapeople, and technical media workers who were killed during the war.
The Board of the Pulitzer Prize recognized the courage of Ukrainian journalists during the russian attack with a special collective award.
The Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Moscow Patriarchate [UOC MP] at its council condemned the war in Ukraine, declared its "full independence and autonomy", and disagreed with the Russian patriarch Kyrylo.
"The council condemns war as the violation of God's command "Thou shalt not kill!"... We express our disagreement with the position of Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and all Russia Kyrylo regarding the war in Ukraine. The council adopted corresponding additions and amendments to the Charter on managing of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church which testify to full independence and autonomy of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church," – the UOC MP press service reports citing the resolution.
Famous dog-sapper Patron was awarded the Palm Dog Award at Cannes. This is the most prestigious cinema award for canines, the State Emergency Service of Ukraine.
We hope fame doesn't get into Patron's head, and he carries on his vigilant service.
The most complete picture of today is on our website.
Let's hold and bring the Victory closer!