This archive photo taken on March 25, 2022 shows a photo taken by Ukrainian photographer Maxim Dondiuk alongside other photographs of the Russian war in Ukraine as part of an exhibition at the train station. from Vilnius, Lithuania, where there are traffic trains from Moscow to Kaliningrad make a stop. (Photo by PETRAS MALUKAS / AFP) PETRAS MALUKAS / AFP / Getty Images
Russia on Tuesday summoned the EU ambassador to Moscow, enraged by a rail blockade that has halted shipments of many commodities to a Russian outpost in the Baltic Sea, the latest clash over sanctions imposed by the war on Moscow. Ukraine.
On the ground in eastern Ukraine, Russian separatist representatives said they were advancing toward the main bastion of the Kyiv battlefield. A Ukrainian official described the calm in the fighting there as “calm before the storm”.
The latest diplomatic crisis is taking place in the Kaliningrad enclave, a port and field surrounding the Baltic Sea home to nearly a million Russians, connected to the rest of Russia by a rail link via Lithuania, an EU member. and NATO.
In recent days, Lithuania has closed the route of basic goods such as building materials, metals and coal.
Vilnius and Brussels say Lithuania is implementing new EU sanctions that went into effect on Saturday. Moscow calls the measure an illegal blockade and has threatened unspecified retaliation.
The EU ambassador to Moscow appeared at the headquarters of the Russian Foreign Ministry on Tuesday, the Russian state news agency RIA reported. Overnight, the governor of Kaliningrad told Russian television that EU Ambassador Marcus Ederer should be summoned and “the right conditions will be reported here.”
Nikolai Patrushev, secretary of the powerful Russian Security Council, arrived in Kaliningrad to hold a board meeting, RIA reported.
Moscow had summoned a Lithuanian diplomat on Monday, but the EU has diverted responsibility from Lithuanians. Vilnius “did nothing more than implement the guidelines provided by the (European) Commission,” said EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell.
Within Ukraine, the battle for the east has turned into a brutal war of attrition in recent weeks, with Russia concentrating its overwhelming firepower on a pocket in the Ukrainian-held Donbas region of Moscow. claims on behalf of its separatist representatives.
Moscow has been advancing slowly there since April in a relentless battle that has cost thousands of soldiers dead on both sides, one of the bloodiest ground battles in Europe for generations.
MURAT YUKSELIR / THE BALLOON AND THE MAIL, SOURCE: GRAPHIC NEWS
Fighting has intensified on the Siverskyi Donets River, which runs through the region, with Russian forces mainly on the east bank and Ukrainian forces mainly on the west, although Ukrainians still resist in the city of Sievierodonetsk on the shore. East.
In recent days, Russia has captured Toshkivka, a small town on the western shore further south, giving it a potential foothold to try to cut off Lysychansk’s main Ukrainian stronghold.
Rodion Miroshnik, Russia’s ambassador to the self-proclaimed pro-Moscow pro-Moscow pro-Moscow People’s Republic of Luhansk, said the forces “moved from the south to Lysychansk” with outbreaks in several cities.
“The next few hours should lead to significant changes in the balance of power in the area,” he told Telegram.
The governor of Ukraine’s surrounding Luhansk region said on Monday that Russian forces had gained some territory. It was relatively quiet at night, but there were more attacks, Serhiy Gaidai said: “It’s calm before the storm.”
While fighting has been in favor of Russia in recent weeks because of its large artillery advantage in artillery, some Western military analysts say Russia’s failure to make great strides so far means the time is now on. side of the Ukrainians.
Moscow is running out of new troops, while Ukraine is receiving newer and better equipment from the West, tweeted retired U.S. Lieutenant General Mark Hertling, a former commander of the U.S. ground forces in Europe.
“It’s a heavyweight boxing match. In 2 months of fighting, there has not yet been a coup de grace. It will come as the UK forces become more exhausted, “Hertling wrote.