Live: Kyiv warns Russia preparing to step up Donbas offensive
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The Ukrainian army warned Monday that Russian troops were likely planning to launch some of their heaviest attacks yet in the Donetsk region. Follow the day’s events on our live blog, updated regularly. All times are Paris time, GMT+2.
06:09am: Kyiv warns Russia will step up Donbas offensive
Ukraine warned Monday that Russian forces were preparing to intensify their fight for key cities in the Donbas.
The Ukrainian army warned that Russian troops were likely planning to launch some of their heaviest attacks yet in the Donetsk region.
“There are signs of enemy units preparing to intensify combat operations in the direction of Kramatorsk and Bakhmut,” it said, referring to two main cities still under Ukrainian control.
Moscow’s slow advance into the east—despite fierce Ukrainian resistance emboldened by recent deliveries of Western-supplied artillery—contrasts with their failure to capture the capital Kyiv at the start of the invasion.
In Bucha, a town outside Kyiv, 36-year-old web designer Maxim said just three months ago, Russian soldiers were rummaging through his home and sleeping in his children’s bedroom.
“In this atmosphere, I feel like nothing can happen and that life is normal,” he said, sitting with his family outside his home. “But we know there’s a war and there’s no place safe in Ukraine right now.”
12:12am: Iran set to deliver armed drones to Russia, White House says
The White House on Monday said it believes Russia is turning to Iran to provide it with “hundreds” of unmanned aerial vehicles, including weapons-capable drones, for use in its ongoing war in Ukraine.
US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said it was unclear whether Iran had already provided any of the unmanned systems to Russia, but said the US has “information” that indicates Iran is preparing to train Russian forces to use them as soon as this month.
“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,” he told reporters Monday.
Sullivan said it was proof the Russia’s overwhelming bombardments in Ukraine, which have led it to consolidate gains in the country’s east in recent weeks, was “coming at a cost to the sustainment of its own weapons”.
(FRANCE 24 with REUTERS, AFP, AP)
