Vladimir Putin traveled to Belarus to meet with Belarusian leader, Alexander Lukashenko, as fears grow in Kyiv that Moscow is pushing its closest ally to join a new ground offensive against Ukraine. Ahead of the meeting, which will be Putin’s first visit to Belarus since 2019, Lukashenko said the two leaders would discuss the “military-political situation” in the region as well as economic cooperation.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov held talks with his Belarusian counterpart Sergei Aleinik in Minsk on Monday ahead of Putin’s visit. The foreign ministers discussed “specific topical issues, efforts to counter illegal Western sanctions, as well as interaction on international platforms”, Belarusian state media said, citing the Belarusian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, while having “addressed trade and economic issues”. cooperation and the implementation of joint projects”.
The Belarusian Defense Ministry said it had completed a series of military readiness inspections of its armed forces hours before Putin’s visit to Minsk. Weeks of military maneuvers and inspections have raised fears in Kyiv that Belarus, which served as a staging post for Russia to launch its invasion of Ukraine in February, is preparing to play a more active role in the conflict again. .
Ukrainian forces hold firm heavily contested eastern city of Bakhmutaccording to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, adding that Kyiv was ready for “all possible defense scenarios” against Moscow and its ally. “Bakhmut’s leadership is essential,” he said in his latest national report. address. “We keep the city, even if the occupiers do everything so that there is not a single wall left intact.”
A Russian drone attack on Monday caused “quite serious” damage in the Kyiv region and three areas in the region were left without power, Governor Oleksiy Kuleba said. Russia launched 35 ‘kamikaze’ drones into Ukraine in the early hours of Monday as many people slept, hitting critical infrastructure in and around Kyiv in Moscow’s third airstrike on the Ukrainian capital in six days .
Ukraine’s Atomic Energy Agency has accused Russia of flouting nuclear safety by sending a ‘kamikaze’ drone over part of a nuclear power plant in the Mykolaiv region just after midnight on Sunday. Energoatom said the Iranian-made Shahed drone was detected over the nuclear power plant in southern Ukraine and called on the international nuclear community to protect atomic sites from the risk of war.
Air alerts were issued in Kyiv and across most of Ukraine early Monday afternoon, officials said. There were no immediate reports of attacks and the alarm went off about 20 minutes later.
The Russian Defense Ministry said its forces shot down four US-made HARM anti-radiation missiles over the Belgorod region, which borders Ukraine, within 24 hours, the agency reported. official TASS press release. One person died and several were injured by Ukrainian shelling in the area on Sunday morning, the region’s governor said.
UK set to announce major new artillery package for Ukraine as British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak prepares to meet its Nordic, Baltic and Dutch counterparts in Riga, Latvia on Monday. Sunak said the West should reject the Kremlin’s unilateral calls for a ceasefire in Ukraine and focus on “degrading Russia’s ability to regroup and resupply.”
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