Kiev Defense Ministry: On the front, Ukrainian forces have advanced to the south, while the Russians are concentrating to the east
Ukrainian forces have advanced in the south, while the Russians are concentrating eastwards, the Ukrainian defence ministry reports. According to Deputy Minister Hanna Maliar, the defenders have broken through the first line of defence in some places and advanced towards the intermediate line, but the offensive is slow because of "concrete fortifications built by the enemy".
On the other side, the Russian army claims to have captured a village in the Lugansk region.
"The armed forces of the Russian Federation continue to conduct the special military operation. In the direction of Kupyansk, as a result of the actions of the western force group, the village of Novoselsky in Lugansk has been liberated," Russian army spokesman Igor Konashenkov reported.
Meanwhile, the invaders are not holding back attacks on civilian targets. The Herson region has been shelled 53 times in a single day. The Russian army bombed a hospital, a shopping centre, a cinema and a concert hall.
"This is a cold room, which is covered with pieces of plaster. The ceiling is damaged, this room is destroyed - we had a cupboard here. This room, too, is devastated," says Valeri, a medical worker.
"I came to work for a shift, I left my car here - now it's destroyed. I used to drive to work, now I don't know how I'm going to get around. I'll have to fix it, no one will compensate me for the damage," says Victoria, a medical worker.
"There was a bombing that destroyed the hospital's pathology ward. This time, there are no casualties and, thank God, everyone is inside. But the damage from these attacks is extensive. In total, they destroyed more than 400 windows during the bombings," says hospital director Alla Malitskaya.
Meanwhile, a two-day meeting has begun in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, to discuss a peace plan for Ukraine. The Kiev leader hailed the meeting as "very important".
"Many countries will be represented, from different continents, including southern states. This is very important because issues such as food security and the fate of millions of people in Africa, Asia and other parts of the world depend directly on how quickly the world will implement the Peace Formula. I am grateful to Saudi Arabia for providing this platform for negotiations," stressed Ukrainian President Volodimir Zelenski.
The forum is attended by senior officials, national security advisers and political advisers to heads of state from nearly 40 countries of the world, excluding Russia. Criticised by Western countries for its refusal to condemn Russia, China will be represented at the Jeddah meeting by its envoy for Ukraine, Li Hui. Beijing has expressed its determination to "continue to play a constructive role in finding a political solution to the Ukrainian crisis".
