Russia-Ukraine live news: Ukrainian separatists surround Lysychansk

Ukrainian separatists backed by Russia say they have “completely” encircled the key city of Lysychansk in the eastern Luhansk region.
Russian forces have destroyed five Ukrainian army command posts in the Donbas and Mykolaiv regions with high-precision weapons and have also attacked three storage posts in the Zaporizhia region, according to the defense ministry.
The mayor of the Ukrainian city of Mykolaiv warns residents to stay in shelters while powerful explosions shake the city.
Moscow has denied attacking civilians in Ukraine.
The United States is sending to Ukraine two NASAMS surface-to-air missile systems, four additional counter-artillery radars and up to 150,000 155 mm artillery ammunition cartridges.

(Al Jazeera)

Here are the latest updates:

31 minutes ago (13:53 GMT)

Adviser rejects fears of “Ukraine fatigue”

Ukrainian Presidential Adviser Mykhailo Podolyak has dismissed fears that Western countries will experience “Ukrainian fatigue.”

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson warned against what he called “Ukrainian fatigue” around the world after visiting Kyiv.

“When the fatigue of Ukraine sets in, it is very important to show that we are with them in the long run and we are giving them the strategic resilience they need.”

Podolyak, who is also head of the Ukrainian delegation team, tweeted:

Forget about the “fatigue of Ukraine.” The world is not tired of supporting 🇺🇦. The world is tired of Russian gas blackmail, artificial crises, inflation, political assassinations, chemical weapons, terror and constant blatant lies. Tired of Putin’s personal “complexes.”

– Mykhailo Podolyak (@Podolyak_M) July 2, 2022

49 minutes ago (13:34 GMT)

The United Kingdom condemns the “exploitation” of prisoners of war

The UK has condemned the exploitation of prisoners of war after two more British detainees by Russian representatives in eastern Ukraine and accused of “mercenary activities” could face the death penalty.

Andrew Hill of Plymouth and Dylan Healy of Huntingdon were reported to have been charged with “seizing power by force” and being in “terrorist” training, according to a state-run Donetsk news agency. for Russia.

“We condemn the exploitation of prisoners of war and civilians for political purposes and we have raised it in Russia,” said a statement issued by the British Foreign Office. “We are in constant contact with the Ukrainian government about their cases and we fully support Ukraine in its efforts to get them released.

Two more Britons and a Moroccan were sentenced to death with the same charges by the authorities in Russia-controlled Donetsk.

2 hours ago (12:45 GMT)

Ukrainian separatists claim to have surrounded Lysychansk

Ukrainian separatists backed by Russia have said they had “completely” encircled the key city of Lysychansk in the eastern Luhansk region.

“Today the popular militia in Lugansk and Russian forces have occupied the last strategic heights, which allows us to confirm that Lysychansk is completely surrounded,” Andrei Marotchko, a spokesman for the separatist forces, told TASS news agency.

The capture of the city would allow the Russians to delve deeper into the wider eastern region of the Donbas, which has become the focus of their offensive since they were unable to capture Kyiv after launching their military operation in Ukraine. in late February.

On the other side of the Donets River, the Russians captured the neighboring city of Severodonetsk last week.

3 hours ago (11:28 GMT)

Ukrainian army shares video showing explosion of Russian army depot

The Ukrainian armed forces have shared images of what he said was an explosion at Russian army warehouses in eastern Ukraine.

The video showed what looked like a powerful explosion with fire and smoke rising into the sky.

The images did not specify the exact location, date or further details about the explosion.

He was released as Russian forces struck the city of Lysychansk and its environs on Saturday in a total attempt to seize the last stronghold of resistance in Luhansk province in eastern Ukraine, according to a Ukrainian governor.

3 hours ago (11:05 GMT)

Ukrainian Zelenskiy accuses Russia of “terror” while raining missiles

The missiles rained down on Ukraine, killing many civilians and wounding dozens in built-up areas as the weekend began, prompting President Volodymyr Zelenskiy to accuse Russia of “state terror.”

Attacks on a southern tourist town killed 21 people and injured dozens after the missiles sank against flats and a recreation center in Sergiyvka, 80 km (50 miles) south of the port of Odessa Sea. Black.

The rockets hit residential properties in Sloviansk, in the heart of the stormed Donbas region, killing a woman in her garden and injuring her husband, a neighbor told AFP, describing the ruins that have been taken carried out by the neighborhood.

The witness said Friday’s strike was thought to have used cluster munitions that spread over a large area before exploding, impacting buildings and people who were outdoors.

4 hours ago (10:01 GMT)

Russia says it hit Ukrainian military sites in the Donbas and Mykolaiv region

Russian forces destroyed five Ukrainian army command posts in the Donbas and Mykolaiv region with high-precision weapons and also attacked three storage sites in the Zaporizhia region, the defense ministry said.

The ministry, quoted by Russian news agencies, also said that the Russian air force had hit a Ukrainian weapons and equipment base at a tractor factory in Kharkiv, northeastern Ukraine.

Smoke and dirt rise from the city of Severodonetsk during fighting between Ukrainian and Russian troops in the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine. [File: Aris Messinis/AFP]

5 hours ago (09:02 GMT)

Ukraine says Russia dropped phosphorus bombs on Snake Island

The Ukrainian army has accused Russia of carrying out incendiary phosphorus munitions attacks on Snake Island, just a day after Moscow withdrew its forces from the rocky outcrop of the Black Sea.

Two Russian Su-30 fighter jets launching phosphorus bombs flew over the island from the Russian-controlled Crimean peninsula, Ukrainian Army Commander-in-Chief Valeriy Zaluzhnyi told the Telegram on Friday.

The US will send to Ukraine advanced surface-to-air missile systems

The United States has said it will send two NASAMS surface-to-air missile systems, four counter-artillery radars and some 150,000 155-mm artillery munitions to Ukraine to help Ukraine in its fight against the Russian invasion.

The Pentagon said Friday that the additional material will arrive as part of the latest U.S. assistance package for Ukraine, announced by U.S. President Joe Biden at a meeting of NATO leaders and that it is expected to amount to about $ 820 million.

The package announced Thursday will also include more ammunition for high-mobility artillery rocket systems (HIMARS).

The top Russian general inspects the troops involved in the Ukrainian operation

The head of the Russian Armed Forces Staff, Valeri Gerasimov, has inspected the divisions of Russian troops involved in Moscow’s “special military operation” in Ukraine, the Defense Ministry said.

The ministry posted still photographs of Gerasimov working. It was not immediately known when the visit took place or whether Gerasimov had visited Ukraine itself.

The ministry issued a similar statement on Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu last week.

7 hours ago (07:14 GMT)

Russia’s Gazprom says gas exports to Europe via Ukraine are 42.15 mcm

Russian gas producer Gazprom has said that its gas supply to Europe via Ukraine through the Sudzha entry point was 42.15 million cubic meters (lcm) compared to 42.1 million cubic meters on Friday.

A request to supply gas through the Sokhranivka entry point had again been rejected by Ukraine, Gazprom said.

7 hours ago (07:07 GMT)

Two more Britons in Ukraine accused of being mercenaries for Russia

Russian state media have reported that two British men have been captured by Moscow forces in Ukraine under separatist control and accused of being mercenaries.

Cambridgeshire co-worker Dylan Healy, 22, and military volunteer Andrew Hill have been accused of carrying out “mercenary activities”, officials in the self-proclaimed Moscow-backed Donetsk People’s Republic said, according to Tass.

The media reported that both men refused to cooperate with the investigators.

It comes after a video shown on Russian television in April showed a man speaking with an English accent who seemed to give his name as Andrew Hill of Plymouth.

A pro-Kremlin website said Healy and Hill will face the same mercenary charges as Aiden Aslin and Shaun Pinner, two British military volunteers captured in Mariupol who have been sentenced to death in Donetsk.

8 hours ago (06:45 GMT)

Russia’s messages with missiles tell the West to withdraw

The latest in a litany of horrors in Ukraine came this week when Russian firepower rained down on civilians in a crowded mall far from the front line of a war in its fifth month.

The timing was probably not a coincidence.

The attacks were a message from Russian President Vladimir Putin as the West tried to arm Ukraine with more effective weapons?

Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko suggested this when missiles struck the capital on June 26, three days after EU leaders unanimously agreed to make Ukraine a candidate for membership.

It was “perhaps a symbolic attack,” as the major economic powers of the Group of Seven (G7) and then NATO leaders prepared to meet and put more pressure on Moscow, he said. At least six people died in the Kyiv strike, which hit an apartment building.

8 hours ago …