Zelensky cancels foreign trips amid Russian onslaught
PRESIDENT Zelensky has pulled out of trips to Spain and Portugal as Ukraine battles for survival, repelling Russian forces closing in on the second city of Kharkiv.
The Ukrainian leader ordered “all international events scheduled for the coming days be postponed and new dates coordinated”.
Ukrainian generals have warned they are running out of reserve forces in the face of Russia’s onslaught and are desperately short of ammunition.
General Kyrylo Budanov, the head of Kyiv’s military intelligence warned yesterday: “I’ve used everything we have.
“Unfortunately, we don’t have anyone else in the reserves.”
Reinforcements
Moscow is believed to have amassed half a million men on the Ukrainian front line and in its latest offensive its troops have gained control of around 40 square miles of territory.
Nine villages have been captured, most of which were already abandoned after thousands fled to go west.
Russian military boasted they were using kamikaze drones to attack entrenched Ukrainian positions.
The Ukrainian army reported that troops had fallen back from two areas in Kharkiv, Lukyantsi and Vovchansk “to save the lives of our servicemen and avoid losses.” Vovchansk is three miles from the Russian border and around 45 miles from Kharkiv. Oleksii Kharkivskyi, head of its police, said Russian troops had taken up positions in the city.
And the Ukrainian presidential office added that reinforcements including army reserves were being deployed.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said aid worth £1.2billion would be for weapons, to invest in Ukraine’s defence-industrial base and to allow it to buy military supplies from other countries.
● A man charged over an alleged arson attack on Ukrainian-linked businesses on behalf of the Moscow-backed Wagner Group has been granted conditional bail after a hearing at the Old Bailey.
Paul English, from Roehampton, is accused of aggravated arson relating to a fire at an industrial unit in Leyton, East London, on March 20. Also facing the same charge is Dylan Earl, 20, of Elmesthorpe, Nii Kojo Menash, 21, of Thornton Heath, and Jake Reeves, 22, from Croydon.
Dmitrijus Paulauskas, 22, of Croydon, is charged with failing to disclose information to police about terrorist acts.
They face a trial scheduled for June 2 next year, with a pre-trial hearing set for October 4.