Has Russian 'already lost'? US says Kyiv look back half the land Russian seized: Live Updates
Has Russian 'already lost'? US says Kyiv look back half the land Russian seized: Live Updates
Russia has "already lost" the war in Ukraine in terms of the goals Russian President Vladimir Putin had when his tanks rolled across the border 17 months ago, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in an interview released Sunday.
Blinken said Ukraine has taken back about half the land seized by Russia. He spoke with confidence about the war's outcome the same day Russian missiles slammed into the historic district of the Ukrainian port city of Odesa and Putin dismissed as a failure Ukraine's much-anticipated counteroffensive.
''The objective was to erase Ukraine from the map, to eliminate its independence, its sovereignty, to subsume it into Russia. That failed a long time ago,” Blinken told CNN.
Blinken acknowledged that Ukraine faces “a very hard fight” and predicted the counteroffensive would continue for several more months. But weaponry support from the West combined with the Ukrainian military grit and resolve should win the day, he said.
Unlike the Russians, Ukrainians are fighting for their land, for their future, for their country, for their freedom,” Blinken said, adding that the Ukraine military had "already taken back about 50% of what was initially seized."
Developments:
Russian tennis player Vera Zvonareva, a former world No. 2 now ranked 60th, has been banned from entering Poland for the PNB Paribas Warsaw Open tournament that begins Monday.
◾ A Ukrainian drone strike Saturday caused a massive explosion at an ammunition depot in Russia-annexed Crimea, forcing the evacuation of nearby homes. Ukraine has stepped up attacks on Crimea in recent weeks. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has pledged to return control of the peninsula to Ukraine.
The Biden administration continues to decline Ukraine's request for long-range missiles known as ATACMS, believing Kyiv has more urgent needs and worrying about maintaining sufficient stocks in case of need, the Washington Post reported.
◾ The Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs summoned Russian ambassador Serhiy Andreyev after the "provocative" statement from Putin that western Poland was a "gift from Stalin." Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki tweeted that "Stalin was a war criminal, guilty of the death of hundreds of thousands of Poles."
Zelenskyy lobbies for more defense systems
Ukraine needs more help from supporting nations to develop a "full-fledged sky shield" to defeat Russian missile attacks, Zelenskyy said. He said his military has proven it can shoot down "even the Russian missiles that the terrorists boasted about" thanks to air defense systems already provided by Western nations.
"Our defenders of the sky have saved thousands of lives," he said. "But we need more air defense systems for our entire territory, for all our cities and communities. The world must not get used to Russian terror. Terror must be defeated, and it is possible."
Russian missiles destroy Ukraine historic sites
Russian missiles tore through the historic district of Odesa early Sunday, damaging or destroying dozens of architectural landmarks in a city under siege from Russian might since Moscow on Monday broke off a deal that had allowed grain shipping from Odesa's port.
Regional Gov. Oleh Kiper said at least one person was killed in the latest assault, and at least 22 were wounded, including four children. Authorities said 40 buildings were severely damaged or destroyed, including 25 landmarks. Among them was the historic Transfiguration Cathedral, which traces its roots to 1794 and took a direct hit from a missile that reached the basement, Archdeacon Andrii Palchuk said.
"Everything that was created by great architects, destroyed by cynical people!" the Odesa Regional Authority wrote in a Telegram post. Olena Buynevych, the director of the Department of Education, reported on Telegram that five preschool buildings were also damaged.
0 Comments