UN member states voted in favor of an exception to allow Volodymyr Zelensky to address the General Assembly next week by video link, despite Russian opposition. Of the 193 member states, 101 voted on Friday to allow Ukraine’s president to “make a pre-recorded statement” rather than submit it in person as is usually required. Seven members voted against the proposal, including Russia. Nineteen countries abstained from voting.
The head of the Ukrainian regional administration said that all the bodies exhumed in Izyum bore signs of violent death From a mass burial site that was discovered after Kyiv’s forces recaptured a town in eastern Ukraine. On Friday, Oleg Senegubov, head of the administration of the Kharkiv regional district, said that extractors discovered several bodies with their hands tied behind their backs, and one of the bodies “with a rope around his neck.” “Of the bodies exhumed today, 99% showed signs of violent death,” he said on social media.
The European Union has been “deeply shocked” by mass graves It was discovered by Ukrainian officials at Izium, said the bloc’s foreign policy official, Josep Borrell. “We condemn these atrocities in the strongest possible terms.” The French president, Emmanuel Macron, also denounced what he called “atrocities” committed at Isium, joining the growing anger in Western countries over the burial site.
Ukrainian armed forces struck four regions controlled by Russian forcesAccording to the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. He added that the military also targeted an unloading station, which in turn prevented Russian forces from deploying additional reserves.
Russia has accused Ukraine Carrying out targeted strikes in the cities of Kherson and Luhansk against senior local officials cooperating with Moscow. At least five Hemar missiles landed on the central administration building in Kherson, which Russian forces had occupied since March after arriving from Crimea. Video from the scene showed smoke rising from the compound. In the eastern Russian city of Luhansk, a pro-Russian prosecutor general died along with his deputy when their office was blown up. It was not immediately clear what caused the explosion. Mikhailo Podolyak, a senior adviser to President Volodymyr Zelensky, said Ukraine was not behind the explosion.
far south, Russia-backed separatist power in Berdyansk also blamed Kyiv for the “double murder”. From The deputy head of the Civil-Military Administration and his wife, who headed the city’s regional election commission for the referendum.
In the southern region of Zaporizhzhya There was also news on Friday of a “powerful explosion” in Russian-occupied Melitopolsaid Ivan Fedorov, Mayor of Melitopol. “I hope that the Russian fascists have suffered losses in terms of their personnel and equipment,” he said. “Waiting for good news from the Armed Forces of Ukraine”.
Russian President, Vladimir Putin made his first public comment Since his forces were forced to withdraw of the territories they captured in the northeast, a move that drew unusually strong public criticism from Russian military commentators. Putin said he invaded Ukraine because the West wanted to break up Russia. He grinned when asked about Ukraine’s recent military success, saying: “Let’s see how it develops, how it ends.” Putin said nothing has changed regarding the ultimate goal of Moscow’s “special military operation” in Ukraine, which is the capture of the Donbass River.
The US Department of Defense announced that it will provide an additional $600 million in military assistance to Ukraine to meet the country’s “vital security and defense needs”. In total, the Biden administration has allocated about $15.8 billion in security aid to Ukraine — $15.1 billion since the start of the Russian invasion in February.
Switzerland On Friday, it joined the European Union in suspending a 2009 agreement that eases rules for Russian citizens to enter the country. “The suspension of the agreement does not mean a general visa freeze for Russians, but rather they will need to use the normal visa procedures to enter Switzerland,” according to the country’s Federal Council. He said in a statement. The European Union took a similar step earlier, suspending a visa facilitation deal with Russia, but stopped short of a broader visa ban in response to Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.
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