KYIV: Fresh from his country’s Eurovision victory, Volodymyr, a defiant Ukrainian president zelensky Sworn in the early hours of Sunday a day to host the song contest in the beleaguered city of Mariupol, separated from a veteran group of a few hundred Ukrainian fighters who remain in a steel factory that is almost entirely in Russian hands.
The Kalush Orchestra of Ukraine won the popular competition with their song “Stefania”, which became a popular anthem among Ukrainians during the war, and its victory was a morale booster.
“Our courage influences the world, our music conquers Europe,” Zelensky said on Facebook. “subsequent years, Ukraine Will host Eurovision!”
The band made a passionate appeal to help fighters still at the Azovstal steel plant in the port city during the show, and Zelensky said that “one day” the contest would be held “in Ukrainian Mariupol”.
The president’s optimistic words come as Russian troops are withdrawing from Kharkiv, the country’s second-largest city, after weeks of bombing, and Moscow’s forces engage in a grinding battle for the country’s eastern industrial heartland.
Ukraine’s military said Russian forces were now withdrawing from the northeastern city to focus on guarding supply routes, while launching mortars, artillery and airstrikes in the area east of Donetsk to “destroy Ukrainian forces.” and to destroy the fortifications”.
Defense Minister oleksey reznikov Said that Ukraine is “entering a new – long-term – phase of the war”.
Russian forces control a horseshoe-shaped area of territory in the Ukrainian regions of Donetsk and Luhansk, which make up the eastern Donbass region along the border with the industrial zone where Ukraine has fought Moscow-backed separatists since 2014.
The Azov sea port of Mariupol, in the southern Donbass, is now largely under Russian control, except for a few hundred soldiers left at the steel factory.
A convoy of 500 to 1,000 cars carrying civilians out of the city was able to reach the Ukrainian-occupied city of Zaporizhzhya on Saturday, while Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Irina Vereshchuk said officers were on duty to evacuate 60 seriously wounded soldiers. were having a conversation. ,
after failing to capture Kyiv After the February 24 invasion, the Russian President Vladimir Putin has shifted its focus eastwards to the Donbass, aiming to encircle Ukraine’s most experienced and most well-equipped troops, and seize territory still under Ukrainian control.
Airstrikes and barrage of artillery make it extremely dangerous for journalists to move east, hindering efforts to get a complete picture of the battle. But it seems to be a back-and-forth slog without major successes from both sides.
Russia occupied some Donbass villages and towns, including Rubizan, which had a population of about 55,000.
Zelensky said Ukraine’s military had also made progress in the east, taking back six towns or villages in the past. In his nightly address on Saturday, he said “the situation in the Donbass remains very difficult” and that Russian troops were “still trying to come out victorious at least to some extent”.
“Step by step,” said Zelensky, “we are forcing the occupants to leave the Ukrainian lands.”
Kharkiv, which is near the Russian border and just 80 km (50 mi) southwest of the Russian city of Belgorod, has been under heavy shelling for several weeks. The largely Russian-speaking city, with a population of 1.4 million before the war, was a major military objective in the war, when Moscow was expected to capture and hold major cities.
“It seems Ukraine has won the Battle of Kharkiv,” said the Institute for the Study of War, a Washington-based think tank. “Ukrainian forces prevented Russian troops from encircling, let alone capturing Kharkiv, and then expelled them from around the city, as they did with Russian forces trying to capture Kyiv. ”
Regional governor Oleh Sinegubov said via Telegram messaging app that there had been no shelling on Kharkiv in the past.
He said Ukraine launched a counterattack near Izium, a city 125 km (78 mi) south of Kharkiv, which has been held by Russia since at least early April.
Oleh Zhdanov, an independent military analyst from Ukraine, said fighting was fierce on the Siversky Donets River near the city of Severodnetsk, where Ukraine has retaliated but failed to halt Russia’s progress.
“The fate of a large part of the Ukrainian army is being decided – there are about 40,000 Ukrainian soldiers,” he said.
However, Russian forces suffered heavy losses in the Ukrainian attack, which destroyed a pontoon bridge they were using to try to cross the same river in the city of Bilohorivka, Ukrainian and British officials said.
Britain’s Defense Ministry said Russia lost “critical armored maneuvering elements” of at least one battalion tactical group in the attack. A Russian battalion tactical group consists of approximately 1,000 soldiers.
The ministry said the risky river crossing was a sign of “pressure on Russian commanders to make progress in their operations in eastern Ukraine”.
Putin has justified the war in Ukraine by claiming that it was a reaction to the expansion of NATO in Eastern Europe.
But the invasion has worried Russia and other countries that they may be next, and last week Finland’s president and prime minister said they were in favor of gaining NATO membership. Authorities in Sweden are expected to announce a decision on Sunday about whether to apply to join the Western military alliance.
In a phone call on Saturday, Putin told the Finnish president suli ninisto That there is no threat to Finland’s security and that joining NATO would be an “error” and “negatively affect Russian-Finnish relations”.
Possible bids from the Nordic countries were raised on Friday after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said his country “is not of a favorable opinion”.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken was due to meet his NATO counterparts, including the Turkish foreign minister, in Germany later this week.
The Kalush Orchestra of Ukraine won the popular competition with their song “Stefania”, which became a popular anthem among Ukrainians during the war, and its victory was a morale booster.
“Our courage influences the world, our music conquers Europe,” Zelensky said on Facebook. “subsequent years, Ukraine Will host Eurovision!”
The band made a passionate appeal to help fighters still at the Azovstal steel plant in the port city during the show, and Zelensky said that “one day” the contest would be held “in Ukrainian Mariupol”.
The president’s optimistic words come as Russian troops are withdrawing from Kharkiv, the country’s second-largest city, after weeks of bombing, and Moscow’s forces engage in a grinding battle for the country’s eastern industrial heartland.
Ukraine’s military said Russian forces were now withdrawing from the northeastern city to focus on guarding supply routes, while launching mortars, artillery and airstrikes in the area east of Donetsk to “destroy Ukrainian forces.” and to destroy the fortifications”.
Defense Minister oleksey reznikov Said that Ukraine is “entering a new – long-term – phase of the war”.
Russian forces control a horseshoe-shaped area of territory in the Ukrainian regions of Donetsk and Luhansk, which make up the eastern Donbass region along the border with the industrial zone where Ukraine has fought Moscow-backed separatists since 2014.
The Azov sea port of Mariupol, in the southern Donbass, is now largely under Russian control, except for a few hundred soldiers left at the steel factory.
A convoy of 500 to 1,000 cars carrying civilians out of the city was able to reach the Ukrainian-occupied city of Zaporizhzhya on Saturday, while Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Irina Vereshchuk said officers were on duty to evacuate 60 seriously wounded soldiers. were having a conversation. ,
after failing to capture Kyiv After the February 24 invasion, the Russian President Vladimir Putin has shifted its focus eastwards to the Donbass, aiming to encircle Ukraine’s most experienced and most well-equipped troops, and seize territory still under Ukrainian control.
Airstrikes and barrage of artillery make it extremely dangerous for journalists to move east, hindering efforts to get a complete picture of the battle. But it seems to be a back-and-forth slog without major successes from both sides.
Russia occupied some Donbass villages and towns, including Rubizan, which had a population of about 55,000.
Zelensky said Ukraine’s military had also made progress in the east, taking back six towns or villages in the past. In his nightly address on Saturday, he said “the situation in the Donbass remains very difficult” and that Russian troops were “still trying to come out victorious at least to some extent”.
“Step by step,” said Zelensky, “we are forcing the occupants to leave the Ukrainian lands.”
Kharkiv, which is near the Russian border and just 80 km (50 mi) southwest of the Russian city of Belgorod, has been under heavy shelling for several weeks. The largely Russian-speaking city, with a population of 1.4 million before the war, was a major military objective in the war, when Moscow was expected to capture and hold major cities.
“It seems Ukraine has won the Battle of Kharkiv,” said the Institute for the Study of War, a Washington-based think tank. “Ukrainian forces prevented Russian troops from encircling, let alone capturing Kharkiv, and then expelled them from around the city, as they did with Russian forces trying to capture Kyiv. ”
Regional governor Oleh Sinegubov said via Telegram messaging app that there had been no shelling on Kharkiv in the past.
He said Ukraine launched a counterattack near Izium, a city 125 km (78 mi) south of Kharkiv, which has been held by Russia since at least early April.
Oleh Zhdanov, an independent military analyst from Ukraine, said fighting was fierce on the Siversky Donets River near the city of Severodnetsk, where Ukraine has retaliated but failed to halt Russia’s progress.
“The fate of a large part of the Ukrainian army is being decided – there are about 40,000 Ukrainian soldiers,” he said.
However, Russian forces suffered heavy losses in the Ukrainian attack, which destroyed a pontoon bridge they were using to try to cross the same river in the city of Bilohorivka, Ukrainian and British officials said.
Britain’s Defense Ministry said Russia lost “critical armored maneuvering elements” of at least one battalion tactical group in the attack. A Russian battalion tactical group consists of approximately 1,000 soldiers.
The ministry said the risky river crossing was a sign of “pressure on Russian commanders to make progress in their operations in eastern Ukraine”.
Putin has justified the war in Ukraine by claiming that it was a reaction to the expansion of NATO in Eastern Europe.
But the invasion has worried Russia and other countries that they may be next, and last week Finland’s president and prime minister said they were in favor of gaining NATO membership. Authorities in Sweden are expected to announce a decision on Sunday about whether to apply to join the Western military alliance.
In a phone call on Saturday, Putin told the Finnish president suli ninisto That there is no threat to Finland’s security and that joining NATO would be an “error” and “negatively affect Russian-Finnish relations”.
Possible bids from the Nordic countries were raised on Friday after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said his country “is not of a favorable opinion”.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken was due to meet his NATO counterparts, including the Turkish foreign minister, in Germany later this week.