The Ukrainian military said that Russian forces spent Saturday bombing the Donbass region of eastern Ukraine, but so far failed to capture several strategic locations.
Russians have failed to capture Liman in Donetsk, Severodonetsk and Popasna in Luhansk. “It did not work – the fighting continues,” the message of the General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces said.
Serhiy Gaidai, the governor of Luhansk, said the Russians were bombing the area “but they couldn’t get past our defence.” He added that two schools and 20 homes were flattened during the attack.
Military sources in Moscow said that Russian artillery bombed 389 targets in Ukraine at night.
Ukraine’s restive Donbass region has long been home to separatists and a large Russian-speaking population. Russia began hostilities in Ukraine after recognizing two breakaway republics from the region.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said peace talks with Ukraine were still ongoing and that lifting Western sanctions on Russia was part of that discussion. He also accused the West of undermining their peace efforts by continuing to send advanced military equipment to Ukraine.
“Progress was not easy,” Tell Chinese state television blamed “hostile rhetoric and inflammatory actions by Western supporters of the Kyiv regime”.
Lavrov said his country has evacuated more than a million people from Ukraine since the war began, although he did not provide any evidence to support his claims.
President Biden offered a $33 billion aid package to Ukraine, including $20 billion for weapons. The idea has won broad bipartisan support in Congress. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi urged her colleagues to approve the legislation as quickly as possible Friday.
with wire
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