Shelling in Sloviansk, near Lysychansk and Severodonetsk, Ukraine
Pavlo Kyrylenko said at least two people were killed and seven wounded as a result of the shelling on July 5. He posted a video on social media showing smoke rising from a commercial area and photos of firefighters dousing flames.
"The Russians are again purposefully hitting places where civilians are gathered. This is pure terrorism. The terrorist state must be brought to justice," Kyrylenko wrote on Telegram.
Comment: Pure propaganda. Those who understand the waging of war, such as analyst Scott Ritter, have stated that Russia conduct of its 'special military operation' has been scrupulously legal, and sparing of civilians and infrastructure wherever possible. It's not their fault that Ukraine bases its military units in civilian centers.
The attacks on Slovyansk come after Ukrainian forces on July 5 took up new defensive lines in Donetsk, where they still control major cities, after withdrawing from Lysychansk.
The withdrawal prompted Russia to claim full control of the eastern Luhansk region, although Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy vowed to regain the lost ground.
Comment: On another planet maybe.
Russian President Vladimir Putin on July 4 declared that Russian forces should continue to advance throughout the Donetsk region "as has happened in Luhansk."
Russian Advances In Eastern Ukraine
© RFE/RL ; Institute for the Study of War, LiveuaState of the advance of Russian forces in eastern Ukraine as of July 5.
"The fighting in Donetsk Oblast will almost certainly continue in this manner," the intelligence report said.
Comment: It needn't, if Ukraine would see reality, stop listening to the ghouls of NATO, and sue for peace. Russia would likely stop on a dime.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson spoke by phone with Zelenskiy on July 5, telling him he believes Ukraine can retake territory recently captured by Russia.
Comment: And Johnson's military qualifications are?
Johnson reiterated Britain's commitment to helping Kyiv defend itself and rebuild, and Zelenskiy thanked him for a further 100 million pounds ($119 million) in support.
A Downing Street spokeswoman said the prime minister also updated Zelenskiy on the latest U.K. military equipment, including 10 self-propelled artillery systems, which would be arriving in the coming days and weeks.
British Defense Secretary Ben Wallace said on July 5 that the first group of Ukrainian soldiers had recently arrived in Britain as part of a program to train up to 10,000 new Ukrainian recruits.
Wallace said the weeks-long courses, based on Britain's basic soldier training, includes weapons training, battlefield first aid, patrol tactics, and training on the law of armed conflict.
Comment: Based on U.S. and NATO advice so far, the 'law of armed conflict' hardly figures into the mix.
Zelenskiy said earlier Kyiv's armed forces were undeterred in their efforts to "break" Moscow's will to pursue the war against his country hours after Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered his military to continue its offensive.
Zelenskiy said in his nightly video message on July 4 that despite Ukraine's withdrawal from Lysychansk, which enabled Russia to claim full control of the eastern Luhansk region, its troops continued to fight.
"We need to break them," he said. "It is a difficult task. It requires time and superhuman efforts. But we have no alternative."
Ukraine's military said it withdrew from the bombed-out city of Lysychansk late on July 3 to save the lives of its soldiers, while Zelenskiy vowed to retake the city "thanks to the increase in the supply of modern weapons."
"This is the last victory for Russia on Ukrainian territory," Oleksiy Arestovych, an adviser to Zelenskiy, said in a video posted online.
Arestovych said that besides the battle for Donetsk, Ukraine was hoping to launch counteroffensives in the south of the country.
"Taking the cities in the east meant that 60 percent of Russian forces are now concentrated in the east and it is difficult for them to be redirected to the south," he said.
"And there are no more forces that can be brought in from Russia. They paid a big price for Syevyerodonetsk and Lysychansk," he said.
Comment: Russia has committed a bare 30% or so of its total military resources to this fight. They have almost unlimited industrial ability to rearm their forces. They aren't worried. The Ukraine miliary is being 'ground down' slowly but methodically. Not the war Russia wanted to wage, but one they are perfectly capable of prosecuting.
Early on July 5, Russian rockets hit the southern city of Mykolayiv, on the main highway between Kherson and Odesa, Mayor Oleksandr Senkevych said.
the dumb shit nazi dogs place american an euro weapons in civilian places, including shopping centres an villages,