Vladimir Putin heads to neighbouring Belarus on Monday for talks with Alexander Lukashenko, as Russian troops get ready to behavior workouts there amid nerves in Kyiv that the rustic may just once more function a base for a renewed attack on Ukraine.
President Volodymyr Zelensyy has stated Ukraine is in a position for all imaginable defence situations in opposition to Moscow and its best friend.
“Protecting our border, both with Russia and Belarus — is our constant priority,” Zelenskyy stated after a gathering on Sunday of Ukraine’s most sensible army command. “We are preparing for all possible defence scenarios.”
Officials in Kyiv have warned for months that neighbouring Belarus — one in every of Russia’s closest allies — may just sign up for Russian forces and serve once more as a launching pad for a brand new assault to shape a 2d entrance within the months-long struggle.
Belarus allowed its territory for use as a launchpad for Moscow’s February 24 invasion of Ukraine, however has now not joined the combating immediately. Lukashenko has stated many times he has no aim of sending his nation’s troops into Ukraine.
The Kremlin describes the Russian president’s go back and forth, his first to Belarus for 3 and a part years, as a vast “working visit”.
Russian troops that have been moved to Belarus in October will behavior battalion tactical workouts, the Russian Interfax information company reported, bringing up the Russian defence ministry.
Kyiv and surrounding spaces got here underneath assault once more early on Monday, with the Ukrainian capital’s army management announcing 9 Iranian-made Shahed drones have been shot down in Kyiv’s airspace.
“Air defence systems are at work in the region,” Oleksiy Kuleba, governor of the Kyiv area stated on Telegram. “Stay in shelters and safe places until the alarm is over. Take care of yourself and loved ones.”
Several loud blasts have been heard, nevertheless it used to be now not instantly transparent whether or not they have been air defence programs destroying the drones or drones hitting their objectives.
Zelenskyy on Sunday once more referred to as for Western countries to fortify Ukraine’s air defences after weeks of Russian air moves centered the rustic’s power community as a freezing wintry weather settles in.
The Ukrainian chief stated energy have been restored to a few million extra Ukrainians up to now 24 hours following a large missile assault on electrical energy infrastructure on Friday that killed 3 folks and broken 9 energy amenities. That supposed 9 million Ukrainians have been reconnected over the weekend, he added.
Zelenskyy informed Ukrainians the defense force have been preserving company within the the city of Bakhmut – scene of the fiercest combating within the nation for plenty of weeks as Russia makes an attempt to advance in japanese Ukraine’s Donetsk area.
“The battlefield in Bakhmut is critical,” he stated. “We control the town even though the occupiers are doing everything so that no undamaged wall will remain standing.”
Denis Pushilin, Russian-installed administrator of the portion of the Donetsk area managed through Moscow, stated that Ukrainian forces shelled a medical institution within the Donetsk town, killing one particular person and injuring a number of others.
The battlefield accounts may just now not instantly be verified.
