Russia gains ground with ‘burnt Earth’ tactics
Russian troops have focused the fury of their bombardments on the eastern city of Lysychansk while also targeting Kyiv and other areas around Ukraine after capturing Sievierodonetsk, Ukrainian officials said Sunday.
Lysyschansk is the last city in the Luhansk Oblast to remain under the control of Ukraine forces. Russia already controls about half of the Donetsk Oblast – the two provinces make up the Donbas region that has been the target of Russian forces since an early, failed effort to storm through Kyiv.
Vitaly Kiselyov, an official with the self-proclaimed Luhansk People’s Republic, said about 600 Ukrainian fighters surrendered near Lysyschansk. Regional governor Serhiy Haidai wrote on Facebook that the Russian military is sticking to “burnt earth” tactics, such as those that devastated most of Sievierodonetsk.
“There is a lot of destruction. Lysychansk is almost unrecognisable,” Haidai wrote. “The TV tower fell, the multistory buildings burned. Bridges leading to the city are under fire and damaged.”
Impostor posing as Kyiv mayor converses with European mayors
Kyiv Mayor Vitaly Klitschko warned that an impostor posing as him called several mayors via video around Europe. The German publication Bild reported that Mayor of Vienna, Austria, was not aware he was talking to a fake Klitschko during the entire call.
The mayors of Madrid and Berlin figured it out after lengthy conversations, Bild said. Berlin Mayor Franziska Giffey asked the State Criminal Police Office to investigate.
“It’s a tool of modern warfare,” she said.
Blinken: Kyiv attack meant to ‘terrorize’ Ukrainians
Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Sunday during an appearance on CNN’s “State of the Union” that Russian President Vladimir Putin has “already failed” in his attempt to overturn Ukraine. “His strategic objective was to end Ukraine’s sovereignty and independence, to erase it from the map, to subsume it in Russia. That has failed,” he said, adding that a “sovereign independent Ukraine is going to be around a lot longer than Vladimir Putin is on the scene.”
The Associated Press reported that Russia was advancing in eastern Ukraine and launched attacks overnight that hit two residential buildings and a kindergarten in Kyiv. Russia’s invasion began in February with a march on Kyiv that failed, forcing Russia to turn its attention to the east. Blinken said the missile attacks on Kyiv were designed to “terrorize” Ukrainians.
“Ever since Putin lost the battle for Kyiv, he had to shift his focus,” Blinken said, adding that Russian forces have “launched missiles at a distance to terrorize people.”