KYIV (Parliament Politics Magazine) – The unprovoked war in Ukraine has reached its 99th day. The following summarises everything that is known of the Russian invasion into Ukraine on this day.
- Ukraine to get four powerful medium-range rocket systems as well as ammunition from the United States in an effort to halt Russia’s progress in the Donbas region. The rocket systems are part of a $700 million security assistance package that also includes helicopters, Javelin anti-tank missile systems, radars, tactical vehicles, spare parts, and other items. The precision weaponry and trained personnel will reach the battlefield in about three weeks, according to the Pentagon.
- The transfer of advanced US rocket systems to Ukraine, according to Russia’s foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, raises the prospect of a “third country” being drawn into the conflict. Sergei Ryabkov, Lavrov’s deputy, said Moscow views US military supplies to Ukraine very adversely and that it raises the likelihood of a direct clash. They believed that the United States was purposely and meticulously adding fuel to the flames, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov stated.
- Ukraine has offered “assurances” that it will not utilise long-range missile systems provided by the US against targets on Russian territory, according to US Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
- Following the announcement by Joe Biden, the United Kingdom is said to have urged the United States to approve a proposal to transfer upgraded medium-range rocket systems to Ukraine in the coming weeks. According to Politico, Boris Johnson, Britain’s PM, met with Biden to negotiate the transfer of US-made M270 multiple launch rocket systems, which will be followed by a meeting between his foreign secretary, Liz Truss, and Blinken on Thursday.
- The regional governor of Luhansk said that the Russian soldiers now occupy over two-thirds of the vital eastern Ukrainian city of Sievierodonetsk. Unfortunately, Russian troops now controlled the majority of the city, Serhiy Gaidai said, adding that a lot of civilians were sheltering under a chemical facility from Russian fire. According to a Western diplomat, the predicted loss of Sievierodonetsk, the largest city still controlled by Kyiv in the Luhansk region, is not likely to constitute the core of Russia’s Donbas campaign.
- Volodymyr Zelenskiy, Ukraine’s president, admitted that Kyiv’s soldiers are presently suffering about 100 deaths and 500 injuries every day. In an interview with the US Newsmax television programme, Zelenskiy indicated that the most difficult situation is in Ukraine’s east, particularly in southern Donetsk and Luhansk. Ukraine’s estimate of 60 to 100 soldiers killed every day is “quite credible,” according to Western diplomats.
- Officials reported a Russian missile targeted train lines in the western Lviv region, a crucial conduit for western weapons and other supplies. Maksym Kozytskiy, the regional governor of Lviv, claimed five individuals were injured in the strike. Russians damaged the Beskidy railway tunnel in the Carpathian Mountains in an attempt to disconnect an important rail link and disrupt shipments carrying weapons and fuel, according to Anton Gerashchenko, an adviser to the country’s interior minister.
- Russia has finished the testing of its hypersonic Zircon cruise missile and plans to deploy it on a new Northern Fleet frigate by the end of the year. The Zircon, according to President Vladimir Putin, is part of a new generation of unrivalled weapons systems that travel at nine times the speed of sound.
- Russia troops face accusations of torturing the residents in the Russian-controlled Kherson region in southern Ukraine. The BBC has compiled a number of first-hand accounts from Kherson citizens who claim to have been tortured while in Russian custody.
- Denmark has decisively agreed to join the EU’s common defence strategy, making it the bloc’s final member to do so. The referendum in which the government’s proposal was backed by a margin of 66.9% to 33.1 percent on Wednesday, following historic bids by Denmark’s hitherto non-aligned Nordic neighbours, Sweden and Finland, to join Nato last month.
- Jens Stoltenberg, the secretary general of NATO, said he would arrange a meeting with top officials from Turkey, Finland, and Sweden in the coming days in Brussels to discuss Turkey’s resistance to Finland and Sweden joining the alliance. Blinken stated that there was solid consensus across Nato, widely, to support the speedy admission of Finland and Sweden to Nato, and that he was optimistic that that would happen.
