On the 47th day of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, military maneuvers continue in the east of the country, against the backdrop of the prospect of a major Russian offensive in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions. This weekend, the bombardments continued in the regions of Kharkiv and Dnipro, while the exodus of civilians continues in the regions of Donbass.
► The site of the Russian editorial staff of RFI broadcasts Ukrainian public radio (in the Ukrainian language) from the home page.
The main points:
► Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer will be the first European leader to visit Moscow on Monday since the start of the war. A “ risky mission » as kyiv prepares for a massive Russian offensive in the East.
► Dnipro Airporta large city in central-eastern Ukraine, was again bombarded by the Russians and “ completely destroyed “, announced the regional governor.
► According to the Prosecutor General of Ukraine Iryna Venediktova, 1,222 bodies were recovered in the Kyiv region to this day. This new toll, three times higher than the last, does not specify, however, whether the bodies discovered were exclusively those of civilians.
► More than 2,800 people were evacuated war zones on Sunday, according to Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk. Evacuation from Mariupol and the Luhansk region was halted due to fighting with Russian forces.
► The World Bank is planning a contraction of the Ukrainian economy by 45.1% this year and claims that Russian GDP is expected to collapse by 11.2%. According to the latest World Bank forecast released on Sunday, Eastern Europe is also expected to suffer a 30.7% recession.
Times are given in Universal Time (UT)
04:15: Update on the situation on the ground
We are undoubtedly in a transition phase of the conflict, believes our correspondent in Ukraine, Stephane Siohan. According to several sources, the Russian armed forces are in the process of reconstituting and equipping the tactical groups which have been withdrawn from the kyiv region, in order to re-engage them in the Donbass in the days to come.
Meanwhile, Saturday, at least ten people were killed in the Kharkiv region, and Sunday morning, two more civilians died while the regional administration estimates that the city and its suburbs suffered 66 bombardments in 24 hours.
A little further south, still on Sunday, it was the city of Dnipro which was hit by strikes, missiles hit the airport of this metropolis of one million inhabitants, already hit at the start of the conflict, which this time is completely destroyed and unusable, according to local authorities.
Meanwhile, the Ukrainian army continues to try to hold the two key cities of Izium, in the north of the Donbass, and Mariupol, in the south of the region, when it is estimated that 70% of the great port of the Sea of Azov is already in Russian hands.
In all likelihood, the Kremlin still aims to cut the Ukrainian army in two, isolating the forces of Donbass from those of the rest of the country. According to Mykhailo Podolyak, a close adviser to President Zelensky, Ukraine must be prepared to deliver a ” great battle in the Donbass.
04h00: Hello and welcome to this live
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