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In Kramatorsk in eastern Ukraine, long queues form in front of gas stations
Photo: YASUYOSHI CHIBA / AFP
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US diplomats return to Ukraine
7:17 a.m.:
The US wants to further increase its military aid to Ukraine, and US diplomats are expected to return to Ukraine later this week.
This was reported by US media on Monday morning after a visit by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin to Ukraine.
In Kyiv, the two met the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyj on Sunday.
Selenskyj had announced the visit at a press conference on Saturday.
In Washington, however, there was initially no comment for security reasons.
Blinken reportedly announced that US diplomats who left Ukraine before the start of the Russian invasion would return to the country later this week.
This is a strong message of solidarity from the United States.
President Joe Biden will soon nominate Bridget Brink as US ambassador to Ukraine.
Brink is currently the US envoy to Slovakia.
During their stay in Kyiv, Blinken and Austin met Zelenskyy, Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba, Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov and Interior Minister Denys Monastyrskyi for a roughly 90-minute talk, CNN reported.
Kyiv reports new Russian attack attempts towards Kramatorsk
6.55 a.m .:
The Ukrainian military says it has repelled several Russian attacks in eastern Ukraine.
"The enemy attempted to storm in the direction of Izyum - Barvinkove and Izyum - Kramatorsk, but were unsuccessful, shelling the villages of Velika Komyshuvahka, Virnopillya and Nova Dmytrivka," the Ukrainian General Staff said in its situation report on Monday.
In the Donetsk area and further south, Russian combat operations were primarily limited to heavy artillery fire on the Ukrainian positions.
Only in the small town of Popasna, which has been fought over for weeks, have there been further storm attempts.
In the city of Mariupol, the Azovstal steelworks was hit with bombs and rockets, it said.
The General Staff made no statements about its own losses.
The Russian side is said to have lost 13 tanks and other military technology.
muk/dpa/Reuters/AFP