ONGOING ARMED CONFLICT Russia Declares Open War on Ukraine And Launches Missles on Major Cities

[Meatpie]

Mother killed with her baby in Odessa Air Strike on April 23​

A young mother and her three-month-old baby were among the fatalities after an Odessa building was hit by missiles on Saturday, Ukraine's President Zelensky has said.

Journalists and others have taken to Twitter, posting pictures and tributes of the mother and child.

Myroslava Petsa, a journalist for the BBC Ukrainian Service, said the mother was called Valeria, and her new-born baby was Kira.

In a post on Valeria's social media, re-shared by a Kyiv Independent journalist on Twitter, she said the period since giving birth to Kira had brought her "a whole new level of happiness".

Eight people were killed in a Russian missile strike on a block of flats in the southern port city, according to Ukrainian officials.

 

[Meatpie]

Today April 24 Ukraine enters its third month of war with Russia

In just eight weeks, Russia has turned back the clock, forcing Ukraine to relive the worst horrors of the 20th Century.

Thousands dead, millions displaced, cities reduced to rubble.

Invading forces accused of war crimes after bombing maternity hospitals and civilians hiding in a theatre. Urban sieges, mass graves, fruitless peace talks.

And yet Russia has failed to seize Kyiv and oust the government. Ukrainian forces have mounted a robust defence and Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky has shown great leadership; both binding the nation more closely together.

But as Russian forces regroup in the east, can Ukraine hold them back? Can Western powers step up their military support and stay united around common war aims?

Or will time, fatigue and declining stockpiles of ammunition take their toll? This war is just two months old but there may be many more to come.

 

[Meatpie]

Good evening. It is 9pm in Kyiv. Here are my latest WW3 updates for you.

• Russia’s defence ministry warned of an immediate “proportional response” if Britain continues its “direct provocation” of the Kyiv regime, after the UK armed forces minister, James Heappey, described Ukrainian strikes on Russian soil that hit supplies and disrupt logistics as “completely legitimate”.
• A Russian minister refused to rule out Moldova’s breakaway region Transnistria being drawn into the Ukraine war, in a potential escalation of the conflict to another European country. The deputy foreign minister, Andrey Rudenko, said on Tuesday said Moscow “was concerned” over the string of recent explosions in Transnistria, saying Russia “would like to avoid a scenario” in which Transnistria would be dragged into the war.
• The United Nations secretary general, António Guterres, has travelled to Moscow in an attempt to put the UN at the heart of Ukrainian mediation efforts. In a joint press conference with Russia’s foreign minister, Guterres said the UN is “ready to fully mobilise its human and logistical resources to help save lives in Mariupol”. Ukraine’s deputy prime minister, Iryna Vereschuk, said there was “no point” in the UN if there is no real humanitarian corridor from Mariupol.
• During his joint presser with Guterres, Russia’s foreign secretary, Sergei Lavrov, said Russia has dismissed Ukraine’s proposal to stage peace talks in the port city of Mariupol. Lavrov said it was too early to talk about who would mediate in any negotiations, but he said Moscow was committed to a diplomatic solution via talks on Ukraine.
• The UN’s António Guterres then met with the Russian leader, Vladimir Putin, who described the situation in Mariupol as “tragic” and “complicated”. Moscow and Kyiv were continuing talks in an online format, Putin said, adding that he hopes the talks would yield a positive result.
• Poland’s government has been told that the country’s gas supply from Russia will stop from Wednesday following Warsaw’s refusal to pay its supplier, Gazprom, in roubles.
  The decision to stop supply had also followed Poland’s announcement earlier that it was imposing sanctions on 50 entities and individuals including Russia’s biggest gas company.
• The head of the UN’s atomic watchdog has condemned the Russian occupation of the Chornobyl nuclear plant, describing the situation as “absolutely abnormal and very, very dangerous”. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) director general, Rafael Grossi, is heading an expert mission to Chornobyl to “deliver equipment, conduct radiological assessments and restore safeguards monitoring systems”, the IAEA said.
• The United States has vowed to move “heaven and earth” to help Ukraine win its battle against Russia’s invasion as it hosted defence talks in Germany with allies from 40 nations. The gathering is being led by the US defence secretary, Lloyd Austin, following his meeting with the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, on Sunday.
• Germany will authorise the delivery of anti-aircraft systems to Ukraine, the German defence minister, Christine Lambrecht, said. Lambrecht said the government has agreed to sign off the delivery of around 50 Gepard anti-aircraft weapons systems. Switzerland said it had blocked Germany from sending Swiss-made ammunition used in Gepard anti-aircraft systems to Ukraine.

 

[Meatpie]

Putin visited Mandryk central military hospital in Moscow today where young models are recovering from their war injuries.

 

[Meatpie]

Good evening. It's exactly 22.30 p.m. in Kyiv. Here's a short summary of today's war news.​

• Ukrainian military says Severodonetsk "not cut off:" Serhiy Hayday, the head of Luhansk's regional military administration, said on Saturday the key eastern Ukrainian city of Severodonetsk was "not cut off," as Russian troops press a concerted offensive in the Luhansk region. Hayday said intense Russian shelling was underway in Severodonetsk, an industrial center which is the last major stronghold of Ukrainian control in Luhansk. Ukrainian forces are fighting to stave off an apparent effort by Russian forces to encircle the defenders of Severodonetsk, while Russian troops make advances from several directions.
• France and Germany's leaders urge Putin to agree to a ceasefire: The leaders of Germany and France held a phone call with Vladimir Putin on Saturday, in which they pressed the Russian President to agree to an immediate ceasefire in Ukraine and withdraw Russia's troops from the country, German officials said. A statement from the French presidential office, the Elysee Palace, said: "Any solution to the war must be negotiated between Moscow and Kyiv." The two leaders also urged Putin to lift the blockade of Odesa to allow the export of Ukrainian grain through the Black Sea in order to avoid a world food crisis, according to the statement.
• Putin signs law scrapping upper age limit to enlist in Russian military: The Russian President has signed a law scrapping the upper age limit for Russians and foreigners to join the military as contract service members, according to Russian state news agency TASS. Russia’s State Duma passed the bill on Wednesday but Putin's signature was needed for it to become law. Previously, citizens aged 18 to 40 and foreigners aged 18 to 30 could enlist in the Russian military.
• Zelensky and UK PM discuss global food crisis: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson spoke by phone on Saturday morning to discuss several issues related to the war in Ukraine, Zelensky tweeted. Among the matters the two discussed was the growing global food supply crisis, which has been exacerbated by Russia's blockade of Ukrainian ports. Zelensky said Friday that some 22 million tons of grain meant for export were sitting in silos, as Russia is blocking export routes through the Black Sea and Azov Sea.
• Kharkiv district shelled, says regional official: Russian forces have shelled a district of the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv, the regional military governor said in a statement Saturday. Oleh Syniehubov, head of Kharkiv regional military administration, said the Kyiv district of Kharkiv city had been subjected to Russian shelling over the past 24 hours, and that several shells hit the suburb of Mala Danylivka overnight -- with no casualties. A 65-year-old woman was killed by Russian fire in the village of Slatyne, he added. Ukrainian troops have in recent weeks pushed back Russian forces from around Kharkiv, Ukraine's second-largest city. But it has remained in range of some Russian weaponry.

 

[Meatpie]

Frédéric Leclerc-Imhoff Named as French Journalist Killed in Ukraine​

A handsome French journalist was killed today in Ukraine after an evacuation car was hit near Sievierodonetsk.

On Twitter, French president Emmanuel Macron said:

"Journalist Frédéric Leclerc-Imhoff was in Ukraine to show the reality of the war. On board a humanitarian bus, alongside civilians forced to flee to escape Russian bombs, he was fatally shot."

Macron added: “I share the pain of the family, relatives and colleagues of Frédéric Leclerc-Imhoff, to whom I send my condolences.”

The newspaper Le Parisien said Leclerc-Imhoff was 32 years old and had worked for the news channel BFMTV for six years.

The news of Leclerc-Imhoff’s death comes as France’s new foreign minister, Catherine Colonna, visits Ukraine. On Monday she called for an investigation into his death, Reuters reports.

 

[Meatpie]

Top Russian Military Brass Caught Venting: ‘You’re Fucked, Putin—Motherfucker!’​

Two high-ranking Russian military officers have been caught shit-talking Kremlin leadership in unimaginably colorful language. The two colonels blast the defense minister and lash out at that “motherfucker” Vladimir Putin for his poor strategy in Ukraine, according to a leaked recording of a phone conversation.

While Western and Ukrainian intelligence agencies have routinely reported on plunging morale among rank-and-file Russian troops fighting in Ukraine, many of whom have been heard complaining of dysfunction in intercepted communications, the latest audio appears to be the first to expose frustrations among high-ranking officers.

Radio Free Europe’s Ukrainian service published the curse-laden recording late Monday, reporting that it was provided by Ukrainian intelligence. One of the men heard in the purported intercepted call—identified as Colonel Maksim Vlasov—is no stranger to the eight-year war in Ukraine’s Donbas. He has been wanted by Ukrainian authorities since 2018 for the 2015 shelling of Mariupol—an attack in which he previously implicated himself by carelessly blabbing about it by phone in an earlier intercepted phone call covered by Bellingcat.

The latest recording, dated April 14, is said to show Vlasov and another colonel, Vitaly Kovtun, a doctor at the Naro-Fominsk military hospital said to hold many military honors, raging against the many failures of Putin’s “special military operation” in Ukraine.
They both express particular ire for Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu.

“There are horrible losses of our guys, fuck. And you know, I am familiar with military history a bit, and I compare this to the fucking Soviet-Finnish war of 1939-1940. It’s fucking one and the same,” said Vlasov, referring to a war in which the Soviets are estimated to have lost 126,875 troops.

He goes on to take aim at Shoigu, whom he describes as an “incompetent fucking layman.”

“He’s a layman in his work. This is not his fucking thing. He’s just a fucking showman,” the man identified as Vlasov says.

Kovtun responds in kind, saying, “Shoigu is fucking shit. [There are] no contracted forces. Of course not! Why would there fucking be? They paid them 30,000 rubles [$490], where are they going to get contractees?”

The pair also takes aim at the military leadership they say the Kremlin has put in charge in Ukraine.

“Shoigu has assembled all these fucked up [Emergency Situations] guys… if we have head of inspection Colonel-General [Pavel] Plat, fuck, he’s never even served in the army…” Vlasov said.

“They’ve brought forth a whole stellar cast of bootlickers. That [Alexander} Dvornikov is a legend of fuckery… He’s the one who thought up this ‘anti-Banderov push,’” he said, apparently referring to the Kremlin’s narrative about Ukrainians all being neo-Nazis.

“Well, basically, he’s fucking washed up, a brain-dead idiot,” he said.

Kovtun, complaining that Russian forces haven’t been ruthless enough in their assault on Ukraine, blasts Putin personally for Moscow’s retreat from Kyiv.

“A fucking rocket should fly into the Verkhovna Rada [Ukraine’s Parliament] in Kyiv. That’s it, fuck it. Why didn’t [a rocket] fucking fly? I don’t fucking get it, you’re fucked, Putin—motherfucker! Why didn’t a rocket fly into Kyiv, so they’d think… fuck, yes, for fuck’s sake there’s something wrong... something hasn’t been done the right way.”

Reporters with the news outlet say they contacted Kovtun directly to ask how he can call for the Russian bombing of Ukrainian cities when he himself was born in Ukraine and has relatives there.

“Even if [the bombs] don’t hit the target, fuck, let them be afraid,” a man identified as Kovtun can be heard responding in an audio clip of the call, before saying, “I don’t give a damn, I’ll alert the FSB about you and that’s it.”

When asked if that means he’s ready to cop to his words about Shoigu being “shit,” Kovtun suddenly seemed to have a change of heart, saying, “No, I’m not ready [to do that]. I don’t want to.”

Vlasov was also contacted by reporters about the recording, but he immediately hung up, according to audio released by the news outlet.

As of April 2022, Vlasov is said to have held a senior position in the artillery service of the 2nd Guards Motor Rifle Division of the 1st Guards Tank Army of the Western Military District of the Russian Federation. He was also reportedly transferred to the analytical department of the 1st Guards Tank Army, which had a command post deployed to the Belgorod region on the border with Ukraine.

The pair’s expletive-laced venting session has surfaced as Western intelligence reports more and more mutiny by Russian troops on the battlefield. The British Ministry of Defence, in its latest assessment, said Putin’s soldiers are likely going to be even less effective going into the fourth month of the war, due to the “the loss of a large proportion of the younger generation of professional officers.”

“More immediately, battalion tactical groups which are being reconstituted in Ukraine from survivors of multiple units are likely to be less effective due to a lack of junior leaders,” the ministry said, adding that the shortage of “experienced and credible platoon and company commanders is likely to result in a further decrease in morale and continued poor discipline.”

In line with that assessment, Ukraine’s Security Service on Tuesday released audio of what it said was a Russian soldier telling his wife about his unit’s recent rebellion against a Russian general.

After troops refused to follow orders to go to the frontline, he said, the general “started waving his gun and shooting,” threatening to fire at those who wouldn’t follow orders.

But another guy in the unit quickly whipped out a grenade and threatened the general right back, saying, “Come on, shoot me! We’ll blow up together!,” he said.

“The special forces guys also started pointing their guns at us. So, we pointed our guns at them. Basically, we almost shot each other, for fuck’s sake,” he said.

Top Russian Military Brass Caught Venting: ‘You’re Fucked, Putin—Motherfucker!’

Two high-ranking Russian officers have been caught blasting Moscow’s failures in Ukraine and railing against military leadership, according to a new report.

www.thedailybeast.com

 

[Meatpie]

Finland Confirms Russia is using Thermobaric Weapons in Ukraine as WW3 Enters New Dangerous Phase​

Finland’s president, Sauli Niinistö, has said both Ukraine and Russia are using heavier weapons – including, in Russia’s case, thermobaric bombs.

Speaking to reporters during security policy talks at his summer residence in Naantali, Niinistö said:

"We are supporting Ukraine with increasingly heavy weaponry. And on the other hand Russia has also begun to use very powerful weapons, thermobaric bombs that are in fact weapons of mass destruction."

Ukraine and Nato countries, including the UK, have accused Russia of using thermobaric weapons, which are more destructive than conventional explosives.

 

[Meatpie]

Thousands of Ukranians Remain Trapped in Dead Cities without Runnig Water and Electricity as Putin Taunts West During Lengthy Speech at Economic Forum

 

[Meatpie]

Good evening everyone. Here is my war news summary for the longest day of the year in the Northern Hemisphere.

• The military situation for Ukraine’s defenders in the eastern Donbas is “extremely difficult”, the governor of the Luhansk region has said. Some 568 civilians are thought to be holed up in Sievierodonetsk’s Azot chemical plant, as Russian attacks intensified in an effort to capture Sievierodonetsk and Lysychansk.

• Russian troops have captured the frontline village of Toshkivka near the twin cities of Sievierodonetsk and Lysychansk in the Donbas region. The head of the Severodonetsk district military administration, Roman Vlasenko, said the village had not been under Ukrainian control since Monday, adding that the battle for Donbas is “now in full swing”.
• A fire that broke out after Ukrainian forces allegedly attacked oil rigs in the Black Sea off the coast of Crimea is approaching an oil well, according to a pro-Russian official. Three people were wounded and seven people are still reportedly missing. The Russian-backed leader of annexed Crimea, Sergei Askyonov, blamed Kyiv for the attack.
• Russia has demanded that Lithuania immediately lift a ban on the transit of goods on an EU sanctions list across its territory to the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad. The secretary of the security council of the Russian Federation, Nikolai Patrushev, said the consequences of the ban “will have a serious negative impact on the population of Lithuania.”
• The Kremlin has said that two captured US volunteers are not covered by the Geneva conventions and could face the death penalty. Russian media has claimed that two of three US volunteers missing in Ukraine have been captured and are being held by pro-Russian separatist forces. The Kremlin, however, denied that it knew the location of the two men.
• The sister of Brahim Saadoun, the Moroccan man who was captured while serving in the Ukrainian military, has said she feared he has been abandoned by his own government and has called on the international community to “claim my brother”. “I just want any authority, anybody who is willing to help, to come and help,” Iman Saadoun said in an interview with the Guardian, describing being left in limbo while seeking government support for him.
• A senior Ukrainian government official and a business leader have been detained on suspicion of being part of an alleged Russian spy network, Ukraine’s security service (SBU) said. It claimed the pair had “passed on various intelligence information to the enemy: from the state of our defence capability to arrangements at the state border and personal data of Ukrainian law enforcement officers”.
• European countries are united in their support for granting Ukraine the status of European Union member candidate, Luxembourg’s foreign affairs minister has said. Jean Asselborn told reporters “We are working towards the point where we tell Putin that Ukraine belongs to Europe, that we will also defend the values that Ukraine defends.”
• The UK government is “determined” to impose further sanctions on Russia and will continue to do so until Moscow fully withdraws from Ukraine, Britain’s foreign secretary Liz Truss said. She told parliament that she would be travelling to Turkey on Wednesday to discuss options to help get grain out of Odesa.
• New rules that will allow Ukrainian children to come to Britain alone are expected to be announced this week. It follows revelations in the Guardian that more than 500 children who fled the war without their parents have been stuck waiting in limbo across Europe after applying to the Homes for Ukraine scheme. The announcement could come as soon as Wednesday.

 

[Meatpie]

Ukrainians waited outside the EU summit building for the leaders to decide on their country's status

EU awards Ukraine and Moldova Candidate Status​

Ukraine and Moldova have both been granted EU candidate status, President of the European Council Charles Michel has announced.

"Today marks a crucial step on your path towards the EU," Mr Michel said, describing the European Council's decision as a "historic moment".
Ukraine applied days after the Russian invasion in February, and the process moved at a record speed.
Its president, Volodymyr Zelensky, hailed Thursday's decision.

"It's a unique and historical moment in UA[Ukraine]-EU relations..." he tweeted. "Ukraine's future is within the EU."
The mayor of the Ukrainian capital Kyiv, former boxer Vitali Klitschko, paid an emotional tribute to his fellow citizens resisting the invasion.

"We paid a very high price for this chance," he wrote on Telegram. "Yes, we still have a lot to do on the way to the European family.
"But I am sure that Ukraine will do everything necessary, fulfil all the conditions and pass the necessary laws. Because otherwise our state has no future. Indeed, our best defenders are dying for it."

Candidate status is the first official step towards EU membership. But it can take many years to join and there's no guarantee of success.

EU awards Ukraine and Moldova candidate status

President Zelensky calls it a "unique and historical moment...Ukraine's future is within the EU."

www.bbc.com

 

[Meatpie]

Ukrainian forces have been ordered to withdraw from Severodonetsk

Ukrainian forces have been ordered to withdraw from Severodonetsk, according to the top regional official.

The eastern city has endured weeks of bombardment, as Russian forces try to take complete control of the region.

A Ukrainian retreat would be significant because it would leave all of Luhansk under Russian control, except for the city of Lysychansk.
Luhansk, a mainly Russian-speaking region in east Ukraine, is a key priority for President Vladimir Putin.

Severodonetsk: Ukraine orders forces to withdraw from key eastern city

Severodonetsk is the current focus of Russia as it tries to take control of eastern Ukraine.

www.bbc.com

 

[Meatpie]

European politicians duped into deepfake video calls with mayor of Kyiv​

The mayors of several European capitals have been duped into holding video calls with a deepfake of their counterpart in Kyiv, Vitali Klitschko.

The mayor of Berlin, Franziska Giffey, took part in a scheduled call on the Webex video conferencing platform on Friday with a person she said looked and sounded like Klitschko.

“There were no signs that the video conference call wasn’t being held with a real person,” her office said in a statement.

It was only after about 15 minutes, when the supposed Kyiv mayor at the other end of the line started to talk about the problem of Ukrainian refugees cheating the German state of benefits, and appeared to call for refugees to be brought back to Ukraine for military service, that Giffey grew suspicious.

When the connection was briefly interrupted, the Berlin mayor’s office contacted the Ukrainian ambassador to Germany, who confirmed through authorities in Kyiv that the person on the video call was not the real Klitschko, the news magazine Der Spiegel reported.

European politicians duped into deepfake video calls with mayor of Kyiv

Person who sounds and looks like Vitali Klitschko has spoken with mayors of Berlin, Madrid and Vienna

www.theguardian.com

 

[Meatpie]

Ukrainian soldiers bathed in a stream during a period of rest from the fighting around Lysychansk and Sievierodonetsk a few days ago.

 

[Meatpie]

Time running out for Lysychansk​

 

[Meatpie]

Amazing day today in world history as Ukrainian forces say they have pushed Russian forces from Snake Island, a strategic Black Sea island off the southern coast near the city of Odesa.

If Ukraine were to retake the island it would weaken any plans Russia may have for a future land attack on that stretch of coastline.

Valeriy Zaluzhnyi, the commander of Ukraine’s armed forces, said Ukrainian-made Bohdana howitzers had played an important role in routing Russian forces from Snake Island, and he thanked foreign partners for their support.

Russia’s ministry of defence stated that it had completed its assigned tasks and was tactically withdrawing to allow for grain exports from Ukraine’s Black Sea ports.

Ukraine says it has pushed Russian forces from Snake Island

Winning back vital Black Sea landmass could weaken any future Russia coastal land attack

www.theguardian.com

 

[Frazeeme]

So can we really believe that Russia doesn't want to starve the world of Ukranian grain? I hope we can!

 

[Meatpie]

Good evening. It’s 40 minutes past midnight on Monday in Kyiv on the 139th day of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Here’s is my latest WW3 summary.


Body of murdered civilian placed in body bag in Ukraine.

• Civilians in the Russian-occupied southern region of Kherson were urged to immediately evacuate because Ukraine’s armed forces were preparing a counter attack there, according to Ukraine’s deputy prime minister Iryna Vereshchuk. Ukraine lost control of most of the Black Sea region of Kherson in the first weeks following Russia’s 24 February assault.
• At least 15 people were killed and about 30 others trapped in the rubble of an apartment building in Chasiv Yar, eastern Ukraine, following a Russian missile attack late on Saturday. Dozens of Ukrainian emergency workers were working to pull people out. The strike destroyed three buildings in a residential quarter of town, inhabited mostly by people who work in nearby factories.
• Donetsk governor Pavlo Kyrylenko said two Ukrainian civilians were killed and at least two others injured in Russian missile attacks on the town of Siversk, near Sievierodonetsk, a Luhansk region city Ukraine officials warned last week was facing a “humanitarian disaster”. The governor said three people were hurt by shelling in Soledar, and seven houses and other property burned down in Bakhmut with no details of any casualties.
• The number of Ukrainian children enrolled in Poland’s schools was expected to double to at least 400,000 for the upcoming school year, the country’s education department said. A report in European Pravda, an online media outlet published by Ukrainian journalists, quoted Przemysław Czarnek, Poland’s education minister, as saying those enrolled will take part in lessons both online from Ukraine and in-person.
• The Kyiv Independent reported a poll that 44% of Ukrainian businesses think the country’s active war would end by the winter. However, more than one-third thought active combat would continue into 2023.
• Germany has reportedly been blocking €9bn of EU aid to Ukraine for more than a month. The Kyiv Independent, citing the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera, said Germany’s finance minister, Christian Lindner, was against the planned aid because of concerns over European debt.
• The Russian Tennis Federation was been quick to claim Elena Rybakina as “our product” on her run to the women’s title at Wimbledon. They praised her training programme in the country after she became Wimbledon champion on Saturday while representing Kazakhstan.
• Russia restricted access to the website of Germany’s Die Welt newspaper, Reuters reported. This came at the request of prosecutors, according to Roskomnadzor, Russia’s communications regulator. It was not immediately clear why prosecutors asked for the restriction.
• Russian forces have most probably made some small territorial advances around Popasna, the UK’s Ministry of Defence said on Sunday. It said the Russian military continued to strike the Slovyansk area of the Donbas from around Izium to the north and near Lysychansk to the east. The update added that the E40 – which links Donetsk and Kharkiv – is likely to be an important objective for Russian forces.

That's it from me for today enjoy what remains of your weekend. Thank you for your support and for helping our team provide uncensored and unbiased news & discussion for everyone on the internet.

 

[Meatpie]

Over 5,000 dolphins have died in the Black Sea as a result of Russia’s war

According to Ivan Rusev, an environmental scientist at Ukraine’s Tuzly Estuaries National Nature Park, dolphins sue echolocation to communicate, find food, and navigate.

Due to the constant underwater noise caused by Russia’s Black Sea Fleet submarines and hydrocollators, in addition to explosions, dolphins have been suffering from acoustic trauma which in turn impacts their echolocation abilities.

Dolphins have as a result been struggling to find food. Additionally, due to compromised immune systems, they have become vulnerable to various parasites and viruses.

The report predicts that more dolphins are expected to die as Russian warships continue to fire missiles via the Black Sea.

Russia-Ukraine war: Moscow says peace talks ‘don’t make sense’ and hints at plans for new annexations – live

Sergei Lavrov says Russia may seek more territory along the frontlines in Ukraine

www.theguardian.com

 

[Meatpie]

Good evening here is my weekend war summary.​

• Ukraine predicts that it will recapture the southern region of Kherson by September. Sergiy Khlan, an aide to the head of Kherson region, said in an interview with Ukrainian television: “We can say that the Kherson region will definitely be liberated by September, and all the occupiers’ plans will fail.” But AFP reports from a village 25 miles from Kherson city suggests Ukrainian soldiers are doing well just to hold the front line.
• Russia said its forces hit a Ukrainian warship and US-supplied Harpoon anti-ship missiles in the port of Odesa. Russia targeted Ukraine’s main port on Saturday with high-precision missiles, barely 12 hours after Moscow signed a deal with Ukraine to allow monitored grain exports from Ukraine’s southern ports. The deal was supposed to be a breakthrough to unblock grain exports from Black Sea ports and ease global food shortages caused by the war.
• President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said Ukrainian forces were moving “step by step” into the occupied eastern Black Sea region of Kherson, in video posted late on Saturday night. The Institute for the Study of War (ISW) said in its latest assessment that Ukraine appeared to be launching a Kherson counteroffensive, and quoted Ukrainian adviser for the Kherson region’s administration, Serhiy Khlan saying on Saturday that Ukrainian forces had seized unspecified settlements in the region.
• Ukraine has said it will push on with grain exports despite the attacks. Infrastructure Minister Oleksandr Kubrakov said they would “continue technical preparations for the launch of exports of agricultural products from our ports,” and public broadcaster Suspilne quoted the Ukrainian military as saying the missiles had not significantly damaged the port.
• Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov is in Cairo today for diplomatic talks with Egypt. It is the first stop on a charm offensive around Africa to try and turn around the country’s global reputation and trade.
• The governor of Donetsk, Pavlo Kyrylenko, said that two civilians were killed and another two injured in the region on Saturday. He also said two schools were destroyed in Russian shelling. Teachers were seen clearing one school in Bakhmut that was destroyed in Russian shelling in the early hours of this morning.
• Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy called the strikes on Odesa “barbarism” and said they showed Moscow could not keep its promises. “This proves only one thing: no matter what Russia says and promises, it will find ways not to implement it,” he said during a meeting with US lawmakers, according to a statement from the presidency.
• The US secretary of state condemned the Russian attack against Odesa, accusing Russia of deepening the global food shortage. In a statement posted on Twitter, Antony Blinken said: “The United States strongly condemns Russia’s attack on the port of Odesa today. It undermines the effort to bring food to the hungry and the credibility of Russia’s commitments to the deal finalized yesterday to allow Ukrainian exports.”
• Ukraine’s defence ministry has urged citizens in Enerhodar, a key area seized by Russia, to reveal where Russian troops are living and who among the local population was collaborating with the occupying authorities. “Please let us know as a matter of urgency the exact location of the occupying troops’ bases and their residential addresses … and the places of residence of the commanding staff,” it said on Saturday, adding that exact coordinates were desirable.
• The governor of Zaporizhizhia has said that Russia is keeping 170 people captive in the Zaporizhizhia oblast, the Kyiv Independent reports. According to the governor, Oleksandr Starukh, Russian forces have abducted at least 415 people in the southern region since 24 February – the day Russian forces invaded Ukraine – and at least 170 individuals are still being kept captive.