Russia “strikes back” today. This might be a response to successful attacks on Russian oil infrastructure
Zelensky: over 60 "shaheds" and nearly 90 different missiles targeted at power plants, power lines, a hydroelectric dam, residential buildings 1/
This is the largest combined attack on the Ukrainian power system since the beginning of the full-scale invasion: Ukrenergo
100s of thousands of homes are in blackout 2/
Kharkiv, Sumy, Poltava, Kirovohrad, Dnipro, Zaporizhzhia, Odesa and Donetsk are in blackout and being stabilized
There are interruptions of internet and water supply in multiple regions 3/
-Russia hit the Dnipro hydroelectric power plant. There is a major fire but no threat of a dam breach.
Ukrhydroenergo reported two direct missile hits on the plant. One part is in a critical condition and unlikely to be repaired, Ukrhydroenergo director Ihor Syrota 4/
Ukrainian Armed Forces shoot down 92 out of 151 missiles and drones - Air Force.
For the first time ever, Trump administration approved Ukraine arms packages under the new PURL program, Reuters.
Undersec. Elbridge Colby cleared up to two $500M shipments from U.S. stocks. Ukrainian allies pay, Ukraine gets kit. Target: up to $10B in allied-funded weapons. 1/
What’s in it: air-defense systems and other gear Ukraine asked for, as Russia ramps drone and missile strikes.
Trump frustrated by Moscow’s attacks despite talks, greenlit the PURL push. 2/
This is the 1st new weapons flow beyond Biden-era donations or direct sales.
Under PURL, NATO countries buy from U.S. stocks, Washington ships fast. 3X
That’s horrible to death. Two 13-year-old brothers weighing only 8.5 kg each were found bedridden in frontline Pokrovsk.
They survived over a year under the care of their 10-year-old brother, Platón, after their grandmother's death, Ukrainska Pravda reports. 1/
The boys have severe genetic condition lissencephaly type 1, causing neurological disorders, epilepsy, and protein-energy deficiency - they cannot move and need constant care. 2/
10-year-old Platón fed, watered, lifted his brothers, cleaned around them, and carried them to basement during shelling for over a year without adult supervision. 3/
Lavrov: The Americans came to understand that the people who, in protest against the oppressive Nazi regime, voted in referendums to join — to return to — the Russian Federation will never again live under the yoke of the current Kyiv authorities.
1/
Lavrov: The Russian army never targets civilian infrastructure or the population. For every accusation, we ask: where is the proof, where are the facts? As for fakes accusing our army of crimes, they later turned out to be committed by the Ukrainian regime. 2/
Lavrov: When blatant violations of international humanitarian law can’t be denied, the UN Secretariat timidly issues impersonal calls for restraint — to both sides. We saw the same reaction when it was clear how inhumanly the “Nazi formations” of Kyiv acted.
Snyder: What happens in Ukraine will affect whether Russia, the EU, the US endures. We are not spectators. History shows no state is alone; a smaller power can prevail. Russia could win, Ukrainian victory must be thought of with that in mind. 1/
Snyder: Trump’s superpower is to disappoint. His tweets prepare for disappointment. Europeans must act, not use US policy as excuse. Wars end for economic reasons, but power matters only if turned into political-military force. Europe has power to help Ukraine win. 2/
Snyder: A necessary condition for victory is sovereignty. The ability to set domestic and foreign policy, write a constitution. Without this, it won't feel like victory. The subjective sense of sovereignty is tied to Ukrainians making decisions and integration with the EU. 3/
In July 2014, DPR militants stopped 16-year-old Stepan Chubenko.
They knocked out his teeth, tied his hands and legs with tape, pulled a T-shirt over his head, and executed him. Then they dumped his body in a trench near a river, writes Babel. 1/
Stepan traveled home to Kramatorsk. At Mospyne station, gunmen dragged him off the train [parents say for his blue-yellow ribbons and Karpaty football scarf]
Witnesses said the fighters strangled him with a towel, beat him and forced him to swaer loyalty to “DPR.” He refused. 2/
His mother Stalina and father Viktor searched every hospital and trench around Donetsk. For weeks they begged militants for answers.
Stalina caught DPR leader Zakharchenko in his convoy and screamed: “My son is 16. Where is he?” The next day he called her: “He was shot.” 3/