Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has complained about continued Russian bombing and has again called on the West for more help in air defense.
In the past week alone, Russia has dropped 800 glide bombs over Ukraine, Zelensky announced in Kiev on Sunday. He also published a video of the heavy destruction and fires in the regions of Kherson, Dnipro, Odessa and Zaporizhia, among others.
“Ukraine needs more air defense systems. We need strong assistance from our partners,” Zelensky said.
Ukraine also needs the means to shoot down Russian fighter-bombers, he said.
On Saturday, seven people were killed in an attack on the city of Vilniansk in the Zaporizhia region. More than 40 people were injured, according to official figures on Sunday. Lower numbers had initially been reported the day before.
At least one person was killed in a Russian airstrike on the eastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv on Sunday. Another eight people, including an eight-month-old baby, were seriously injured in the attack, Mayor Oleh Terekhov said.
The slide bomb exploded in the middle of the city center. Kharkiv’s military administrator, Oleh Synjehubov, indicated that a post office was hit in the attack.
The West has been supporting Ukraine in its defense campaign against the Russian invasion, which has been going on for more than two years. The country has repeatedly asked for more American Patriot air defense systems to better protect its cities from Russian airstrikes.
Incident at the border of Ukraine with Hungary
On Ukraine’s western border with Hungary, a border guard fatally shot a man and wounded another man Saturday night after they attempted to attack him with a machete, according to a report by the news website Ukrainska Pravda, citing border guards and authorities.
The incident took place in the western Ukrainian region of Chernivtsi. Authorities did not immediately release details of the suspected attackers or any information about what may have led to the attack.
Fighting took place along the border as border guards sought to enforce rules banning men between the ages of 18 and 60 from leaving the country except in exceptional cases.
In a separate incident, 17 men travelling in a minibus were stopped along the border with Hungary while allegedly trying to leave Ukraine illegally, border guards said.
The men came from different regions of Ukraine and tried to flee to Hungary. Authorities said an initial investigation showed the men had to pay between $3,000 and $12,000 to leave the country.
Russian occupiers seize Ukrainian property
The occupying forces in the Russian-annexed Luhansk region of eastern Ukraine are preparing to hand over housing to military personnel, the Center of National Resistance in Kiev said on Sunday.
Apartments would be handed over not only to the occupiers of Moscow, but also to migrants from Central Asia, the center said.
The internationally unrecognized leadership in Luhansk is preparing similar laws. Many Ukrainians have fled the occupied territories, leaving their property behind.
Immigrants from Central Asia are mainly used by Russia as cheap labor, especially for the reconstruction of cities and villages destroyed by the war.
According to a statement from the center, the occupying forces are confiscating houses abandoned during the war and handing them over to the homeless.
Civilians are also forcibly moved from areas close to the front. Russian soldiers would then be housed in civilian buildings, the report said.
Russian state employees in Luhansk are being assigned apartments abandoned by Ukrainians to carry out administrative tasks in the occupied territory, the center said. Such apartments and houses are offered for sale at low prices.
“The Kremlin promotes such resettlements because it wants to fully Russify the occupied territories,” the statement said.
The occupiers refused to recognize the documents for housing issued in accordance with Ukrainian law. Instead, they demanded that ownership be formalized in accordance with Russian laws. Thus, homeowners would be forced to first obtain a Russian passport and then go through Russian legal procedures.
The center stressed that the Russian approach was illegal and advised Ukrainian citizens to keep original documents or certified copies of ownership certificates. Ukrainian leaders have repeatedly announced their intention to retake the annexed territories.
Ukrainian citizens have also been expropriated on the Crimean peninsula on the Black Sea, which was annexed by Russia in 2014. Many houses, including one belonging to President Volodymyr Zelensky’s family, were seized by the Russian state.
