KHARKIV: Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky traveled his first trip on the east which was hit by war since the Moscow invasion began, when Russian troops tightened their grip around important cities in the Donbas region.After visiting Kharkiv, Zelensky announced that he had fired the Head of the Security of the City of Northeastern in a rare public reprimand.
Zelensky said the man was dismissed “because he did not work to defend the city from the first days of the full scale war, but only thought of himself,” and that while the others had worked hard “very effectively”, the former head did not.Although the President did not mention the name of the official, the Ukraine media report identified him as Roman Dudin, Head of the SBU Security Services Kharkiv.
Previously, the Zelensky office posted a video about the President’s telegram wearing a bulletproof vest while looking at the destroying buildings in Kharkiv and its surroundings.
With a war that destroyed most of his country, the President of Ukraine will speak with a Monday video link to the European Union leaders in Brussels when they try to break the deadlock in the Russian oil embargo.
Pressure in the east
Russia, because he failed to capture the capital of Kyiv in the early stages of the war and then resigned from the Kharkiv region, had shifted his focus to the East Donbas region.His troops said on Saturday that they had seized the city of Lyman in the contested region and increased pressure on the twin cities of Severodonetsk and Lysychansk.Zelensky has been based in Kyiv since Russian President Vladimir Putin launched his full scale attack in Ukraine.”In this war, the invaders tried to squeeze at least a few results,” Zelensky said in a telegram post later on Sunday.
“But they should have long understood that we will defend our land to the last person,” he added.While one third of the Kharkiv region remains under Russian control, “We will definitely free the entire region,” Zelensky said. “We do everything we can withstand this attack.”
‘Constant shooting’
The situation in Lysychansk became “significantly worse”, the Regional Governor of the Lugansk region, Sergiy Gaiday, said in Telegram.A Russian shell fell in a residential building, a girl died and four people were hospitalized,” he said.On the banks of the Donets river, Russian troops “carried out an attack operation in the City of Severodonetsk,” according to the General Staff of Ukraine.
Fighting in the city advancing street by street, said Gaiday.Zelensky, in his daily address, illustrates the destruction scene in Severodonetsk, saying, “All critical infrastructure has been destroyed … More than two-thirds of the city housing stock has been completely destroyed.”In the city that was fought, where around 15,000 civilians remained, a local official said “Continuing shooting” makes it even more difficult to enter or exit.
“Evacuation is very insecure, this is a case that is isolated when we succeeded in issuing people. Now the priority is for those who are injured and people who need serious medical assistance,” said Oleksandr Stryuk, Head of Military and Civil Administration.Water supply is also increasingly unstable, and residents have gone more than two weeks without a cellphone connection, he added.
On Sunday, the Russian Ministry of Defense said that he had destroyed the Ukrainian armed arms in the southeastern city of Kryvyi Rih with “high -distance precision missiles”.Russian troops are also targeting the Ukrainian anti-air defense system near Mykolaivka in the Donetsk region, as well as Radar Station near Kharkiv and five ammunition depots, which are close to Severodonetsk.
‘New face’
On his way to Kharkiv, Zelensky discussed the reconstruction plan with local officials, said there was an opportunity for regions that were destroyed by Russian attacks to “have a new face”.According to local officials, more than 2,000 apartment blocks have been fully or partially destroyed by Russian shootings in the region.In Kharkiv itself, customers returned to the famous Crystal Cafe in the Central Park after reopening at the end of April.Residents came to drink coffee, bite to eat or taste “Biloshka” ice cream, a crystal specialization that has been served by the vendor since the 1960s.
“We need to keep the work. This city will return little by little,” Cafe manager, Alyona Kostrova, 36, told AFP.The menu has been trimmed because of supply and local supply problems operating with reduced staff, down to seven or eight out of 30 or 40 before the war.Far from the city center in the Saltivska environment, where the Russian shell continues to fall, the atmosphere is different.
“I will not say that people buy a lot. People do not have money,” said Vitaly Kozlov, 41, who peddled eggs, meat and vegetables locally.Volodymyr Svidlo, 82, told AFP that he “had no pension”, and came “once a week” to the environment to sell goods, such as onions, dill and flowers from his garden to meet their needs.
Emergency Summit
When Zelensky spoke to the leaders of the European Union in their emergency summit on Monday, he would press them on “to kill Russian exports” when he tried to increase international pressure on Moscow.The new round of European sanctions has been detained by Hungary, Prime Minister Viktor Orban has a close relationship with Putin Russia.Countries that are locked in land are very dependent on Russian crude oil supplied through the Druzhba pipe.
Hungary has requested at least four years and 800 million euros ($ 860 million) in EU funds to adjust the refinery and increase the capacity of pipes for alternative suppliers, such as Croatia.But under the new proposal that was entered into national negotiators on Sunday, the Druzhba pipe can be excluded from the sanction package, which will only target oil sent to the EU by tankers.