Russia prepares new offensive
Islam News – With Luhansk Province firmly in its grasp, Russia set its sights on the next target in eastern Ukraine. Russian forces ramped up shelling on the outskirts of the city of Bakhmut as an apparent prelude to an offensive into the province of Donetsk.
The tactic drove out Ukrainian defenders from the last two cities standing in Luhansk, which along with Donetsk makes up the eastern Donbas region. President Vladimir Putin of Russia has made capturing the Donbas a crucial objective.
The city of Sloviansk is also likely to take the brunt of the Russian war machine, analysts said. But to capture all of Donetsk, Russian forces would most likely need to take Kramatorsk, the headquarters of Ukrainian military forces in the east.
Diplomacy: Ukraine’s prime minister, Denys Shmyhal, said that rebuilding his country would cost $750 billion. And after NATO approved the membership of Sweden and Finland, the 30 parliaments of NATO’s member states must agree.
On the ground: Ukraine said it used a U.S.-supplied rocket launcher to strike 40 miles behind Russian lines. Also, The Times followed a team of Ukrainian medics as they responded to another day of scorched-earth artillery barrages.
Source: The New York Times
