Ukraine's drone attacks on Russian strategic airbases would not have been possible without US help.
This was stated by Russian Deputy Foreign Minister
Sergei Ryabkov in Geneva.
“It is no secret that some time ago Kiev launched attacks with unmanned aerial vehicles against strategic bases of the Russian Air Force in the Saratov and Ryazan regions. We know that these attacks would not have been possible without serious assistance from the United States,
including target selection, intelligence provision and other assistance," Ryabkov said.
"
What happened today in the Bryansk region is a terrorist attack
, the attackers fired on a car, seeing that there were children on board".
This is the accusation of Russian President
Vladimir Putin,
quoted by the RIA Novosti agency.
Moscow
had
accused a group of Ukrainian "saboteurs" of entering Russian territory
in the Bryansk region and opening fire on a car, killing two people and wounding a 10-year-old boy.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov also spoke of "a terrorist attack" and
Putin canceled his trip to the Stavropol territory.
Accusations that Kiev has called "a provocation".
"The story of the group of saboteurs in Russia is a classic deliberate provocation. Russia wants to scare the population to justify" the invasion of Ukraine, Mykhailo Podoliak, a presidential adviser, said on Twitter.
Ukrainian forces are fighting "fiercely" in the battle for Bakhmut
, Yevgeny Prigozhin, the head of the Russian Wagner Group mercenaries besieging the eastern Ukrainian city, admitted, according to CNN.
"The Ukrainian military is deploying additional reserves to Bakhmut" and trying to hold her "with all its might," Prigozhin said in an audio message posted on Twitter.
"Tens of thousands of Ukrainian soldiers are fiercely repelling the attacks. The bloodshed is increasing every day," he added.
Confirmation of staunch Ukrainian resistance comes in the aftermath of
a Russian missile attack on
Zaporizhzhia
in southern Ukraine
that destroyed a residential building
.
According to local media, at least 4 would be dead, explaining that six injured people were taken to hospital.
According to the rescuers there are still people trapped under the rubble, the building has been almost completely destroyed.
"Following the impact, more than 10 apartments from the second to the fifth floor were destroyed. Nearby houses were damaged by the debris and the blast wave," police said.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called the attack
an 'act of terror'
.
"This terrorist state (Russia) wants to turn every day into a day of terror for the Ukrainian people. But evil will not prevail in our land. We will kick out all the occupiers and they will have to answer for everything," Zelensky added on Telegram, explaining that rescue operations continue.
Relief efforts in Zaporizhzhia after the attack
The first lady of Ukraine Olena Zelenska commented on Twitter the bombing: "The city resists courageously", the Russian army "attacks civilians in retaliation".
During the night an apartment building was deliberately hit, three floors were completely destroyed, civilians were killed.
We continue to search under the rubble.
Condolences to the victims.
We will not forgive". Zelenska also posted an image of the building hit.
According to the Russian administration of the Zaporizhzhia region, an apartment building was hit by Ukrainian flak
.
This was stated by Vladimir Rogov, president of the "We are with Russia" movement and member of the board of the Russian administration of the region, quoted by RIA Novosti.
"Last night, one of the Russian missiles was shot down by the Zelensky regime's air defense system, and these two missiles fell on a residential building," Rogov said.
ANSA Agency
Images of the rocket attack on Zaporizhzhia
Meanwhile, Moscow reaffirms the axis with Beijing
.
Russia and China, reads a statement from the Moscow Foreign Ministry relating to
a meeting held this morning in New Delhi
between their respective foreign ministers on the sidelines of the G20 meeting, "unanimously reject attempts to interfere in the internal affairs of other countries and to impose unilateral approaches through blackmail and threats".
While a new threat arrives from Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov: The US and NATO are "further fomenting the conflict in and around Ukraine" and their "growing involvement" carries the risk of "a direct military confrontation
between nuclear weapons with catastrophic consequences".
ANSA Agency
Meloni: "India can ease the way for a just peace in Ukraine" - World
Prime Minister Modi: "Ready to contribute" (ANSA)
Speaking to the Bundestag, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz announced that
there are ongoing talks with Kiev for "guarantees of security for the future"
and added that "Putin is not at all ready to talk about peace.
Russia is aiming, now as before , on a military victory, but this victory won't happen
, also because we and our partners will continue to support Ukraine".
More than 150,000 Russian soldiers have been killed in Ukraine since the start of the invasion by the forces of Moscow
: the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Kiev announced it in a post on Facebook, as reported by the national media.
Since February 24, 2022, the Russians have lost at least 150,605 soldiers on the battlefield, of which 715 only yesterday. Since the beginning of the war, Russia has also lost 3,397 tanks, 6,658 armored fighting vehicles, 2,398 artillery systems , 300 aircraft, 288 helicopters, 2,058 drones, 873 cruise missiles and 18 ships.
