President Vladimir Putin simplified the acquisition of
Russian citizenship
for residents of the Kherson and Zaporozhzhia regions of southern Ukraine with a decree published today on the Federation's legal information portal.
Ria Novosti reports it.
The document is "on the determination for humanitarian purposes of the categories of persons entitled to apply for admission to citizenship of the Russian Federation according to a simplified procedure".
Kherson was the first major Ukrainian city to be fully occupied, Zaporizhzhia is still under Ukrainian control, but almost surrounded.
"Today we are taking further steps to keep the pressure on Putin and his cronies high. First,
to the list of European offenses.
Anyone who violates the sanctions must be brought to justice ". The president of the EU Commission Ursula von der Leyen writes in a tweet." We then present stricter rules to track and freeze illicit profits, including from the violation of sanctions.
We will not let the oligarchs thrive on the Russian war machine.
Their assets should be seized and possibly used to rebuild Ukraine, "she adds.
Ukraine, the lack of water puts a strain on the city of Mykolaiv
NEW BOMBING -
At least one person died and three others were injured today due to the Russian bombing of the Ukrainian city of
Zaporizhzhia
(south): the press service of the regional military administration reported on Telegram.
The news agency Ukrinform reports.
Four cruise missiles were fired, one of which hit a shopping mall in the Oleksandrivskyi district and two others hit civilian structures in the Shevchenkivskyi district.
The fourth missile was shot down by the Ukrainian air defense.
"Russian troops have already got very close to Severodonetsk, so they can fire with mortars too. The city is continuously bombed, 24 hours a day. There is heavy fighting on the outskirts of the city, while bombs and missiles are dropped from bombers, the situation is very difficult ".
This was announced by the head of the Lugansk regional military administration Sergiy Gaidai, quoted by UNIAN. "The Russians also have losses - he said - the only thing is that there are many. Our fighters are simply shocked that they come out of everywhere ".
"They are simply wiping Severodonetsk off the face of the earth," the head of the Lugansk (east) regional military administration Sergiy Gaidai said in a video.
The city is under intense fire from Moscow, which aims to consolidate control over the province and advance further east.
Russian forces bombed the Ukrainian city of Kramatorsk (east) during the night: the mayor, Alexander Goncharenko, made it known on Facebook, stating that there were no victims.
The UNIAN agency reports.
"An anxious night in Kramatorsk - wrote Goncharenko - air missile attack on residential areas and the private sector. No casualties".
The Russians "have become cautious, but their naval grouping today unfortunately has full control of the Sea of Azov, this is clear, together with the Kerch Strait, and now they are blocking our ports on the Black Sea".
The press service of the Main Directorate of Intelligence of the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense wrote on Telegram, quoting a representative of the Main Directorate, Vadym Skibitskyi, reported by Ukrinform.
The units of the self-proclaimed People's Republics of Donetsk and Lugansk, with the support of the Russian army, broke through the defense of the Ukrainian armed forces on Svetlodar Bulg, in the Lugansk region (east).
This was announced on Telegram by the ambassador of the self-proclaimed Republic of Lugansk in Russia, Rodion Miroshnik, quoted by Ria Novosti.
And he added that "part of the strategic Lysichansk-Artemovsk highway is under full control of Allied forces' fire. This has led to the almost complete impossibility of supplying Ukrainian troops in Severodonetsk and Lysichansk. We are advancing towards Maloryazantsevo, Volcheyarovka."
ANSA agency
EU sources: "From Moscow we want concrete measures on wheat" - World
Russia had said it was ready for dialogue with all international partners.
However, he warns: "Sanctions are removed to avoid a food crisis" (ANSA)
ITALY'S PEACE PLAN
- The Kremlin spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, declined to comment on the peace plan for Ukraine presented by Italy, but nevertheless affirmed that the position of the vice president of the Russian Security Council, Dmitri Medvedev, on the document it is "very important".
This was reported by the Interfax agency.
Peskov declined to make further comments until the official text of the plan is sent through diplomatic channels.
EXCHANGE OF PRISONERS
- Moscow is willing to discuss an exchange of Ukrainian and Russian prisoners only after Ukrainian fighters who surrendered at Mariupol's Azovstal steel plant have been tried.
This was stated by the Deputy Foreign Minister, Andrey Rudenko, quoted by the Interfax agency.
The question of the exchange of the pro-Kremlin politician Viktor Medvedchuk with Ukrainian prisoners is not on the agenda, said Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Andrei Rudenko, reported by TASS.
Russia intends to continue paying its foreign debt in rubles if the US prevents it from doing so in dollars.
This was stated by the Moscow Ministry of Finance, quoted by the Tass agency.
The US Treasury has said it will not renew the expiring license granted to Russia today to pay coupons to US creditors in dollars, thus effectively pushing the country into default, despite having the reserves to honor its debt.
The payments, the ministry stressed, will be made in rubles "with the possibility of subsequent conversion into the original currency" provided for by the bonds issued.
Medvedev rejects the Italian plan, the Kremlin cautious
NEW ZELENSKY APPEAL
- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, speaking in a video message about the worsening situation in the Donbass region, asked foreign governments to continue providing military support in the form of weapons and equipment because this is "the best investment for maintain stability in the world ".
The Guardian reports it.
The country's ability to resist Russia was a surprise and a source of inspiration for the rest of the world, he added.
"We must always remember that we have survived these three months thanks to the enterprise of tens of thousands of people who defended the state. And at the cost of tens of thousands of lives of Ukrainian men and women killed by the occupiers. Eternal memory to all those who have been killed. who gave their lives for
CHILDREN KILLED AND DISAPPEARED
- 238 (yesterday 234) Ukrainian children were killed in the war from February 24 to this morning, while 433 were injured: the office of the attorney general of Kiev reported by the UNIAN agency.
Then there is the tragedy of
missing children,
over 1900 according to Ukrainian sources.
ANSA agency
Kiev, over 1,900 children have disappeared in 3 months - World
'Relatives are looking for them, especially in Donetsk, Mariupol, Kharkiv' (ANSA)
