Ukraine warns Russia could step up Donetsk offensive — live updates

12.07.2022, 06:52 dw.com

This article was last updated at 01:20GMT/UTC. Ukraine's military warned that Russian troops were likely planning to launch some of their heaviest attacks yet in the eastern Donetsk region. "There are signs of enemy units preparing to intensify combat operations in the direction of Kramatorsk and Bakhmut," it said. Kramatorsk and Bakhmut are the two major cities in the region that remain under Kyiv's control. Earlier, Russian rocket strikes hit a "shopping centre and civilian residences" in the northeastern city of Kharkiv, regional Governor Oleh Synyehubov said. Kharkiv prosecutors said "six civilians were killed, including a 17-year-old and his father, who were driving past," according to the Interfax-Ukraine news agency. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy slammed what he called an "unacceptable exception" to sanctions on Moscow, after Canada agreed to deliver a repaired turbine to Germany, needed to maintain the Nord Stream 1 gas pipeline. The turbine was undergoing maintenance at a Canadian site owned by German industrial giant Siemens. Moscow said the absence of the turbine caused cuts to gas deliveries to Germany. "The Ministry of Foreign Affairs had to summon Canada's envoy to our country due to an absolutely unacceptable exception to the sanctions regime against Russia," Zelenskyy said during his nightly address. Ukraine's president added that the decision "will be perceived by Moscow exclusively as a manifestation of weakness." "There can be no doubt that Russia will try not only to limit as much as possible, but also to completely stop the supply of gas to Europe at the most acute moment," he said. Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov endorsed a proposal by energy giant Gazprom to include liquefied natural gas (LNG) in its rubles-for-gas plan. In an interview for Russian daily Vedomosti, Siluanov said " we support [the plan] in every way." In March, President Vladimir Putin said that " unfriendly countries" would have to pay for Russian gas in rubles, which led to a number of European clients being cut off for refusing to cooperate with the plan. Russian President Vladimir Putin has expanded a fast-track procedure for Russian citizenship to all Ukrainians. Previously, only residents of the Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions were eligible to apply for Russian citizenship through the procedure. The four regions are under the control of Moscow or Russian-backed separatist forces. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said the expansion of the procedure was evidence of "predatory appetites." "Russia is using the simplified procedure for issuing passports to tighten the noose around the necks of residents of the temporarily occupied territories of our state, forcing them to participate in the criminal activities of the occupying administrations and the Russian army of aggression," Ukraine's Foreign Ministry said in a statement. Since 2019, more than 720,000 people living in separatist-held areas of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions received Russian passports. The White House said it believes Iran will provide Russia with hundreds of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), including weapons-capable drones. "Our information indicates that the Iranian government is preparing to provide Russia with up to several hundred UAVs, including weapons-capable UAVs on an expedited timeline," US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan told reporters. The official argued that the procurement shows that Russia's offensive in Ukraine is "coming at a cost to the sustainment of its own weapons." Sullivan said it was unclear whether Russia had already received the drones. Ukrainian Sports Minister Vadym Gutsait announced that despite the ongoing war, Ukraine will kick off a new football season in August. The pro-Russian head of a village occupied by Moscow's troops near Kharkiv in Ukraine died after his car was blown up by a Ukrainian sabotage and reconnaissance group. Meanwhile, Andrei Siguta, the Russian-installed district head of Melitopol in Zaporizhzhia, escaped an attempt on his life. Rinat Akhmetov, Ukraine's richest person, announced he will give up his vast media business because of pending plans to have all oligarchs listed in a state register. The death toll from a Russian missile strike on a five-story building in the eastern city of Chasiv Yar rose to 31. Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte warned the war in Ukraine may last longer than hoped. Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan told his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin on the phone that it was time to follow a United Nations proposal to create a corridor for Ukrainian grain exports through the Black Sea. The number of Ukrainians entering the European Union has returned to pre-invasion levels, EU's Home Affairs Commissioner Ylva Johansson said. Click here for more details on Monday's events in Russia's war against Ukraine. sdi/kb (AFP, AP, dpa, Reuters)

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