One person was killed and two others injured on Thursday, August 29, by Ukrainian strikes in the Belgorod region, bordering Ukraine, according to the Russian army. The latter also claimed responsibility for taking two villages in eastern Ukraine, not far from the city of Pokrovsk, a region where the situation is “extremely difficult” for kyiv’s army, according to President Volodymyr Zelensky himself on Wednesday.
kyiv has also asked the European Union for support against the United States in obtaining the right to use its weapons against targets located deep inside Russian soil.
Key information to remember
⇒ Russian army claims capture of two towns in eastern Ukraine
⇒ kyiv asks EU to pressure US to use Western weapons on Russian soil
⇒ Ukrainian airstrikes left one dead and two injured in Belgorod region
Russian army claims capture of two towns in the East
The Russian military claimed on Thursday the capture of two new towns in the Donetsk and Lugansk regions of eastern Ukraine, where its forces continue to advance against outnumbered and underpowered Ukrainian troops. On Wednesday evening, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said the situation was “extremely difficult” for the Ukrainian military near the eastern town of Pokrovsk in the Donetsk region.
In its daily report, the Russian Defense Ministry said its troops had captured the villages of Mykolaivka and Stelmakhivka.
Ukraine asks EU to put pressure on Washington
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba on Thursday called on the European Union to pressure the United States to obtain the right to use its weapons against targets deep inside Russian soil. “I call on the European Union to play a role and to say loudly and very clearly that something must be done now,” he said upon arrival in Brussels, where he is attending an informal meeting of EU foreign ministers.
Several countries, including the United States, still maintain restrictions on the use of weapons they supply to Ukraine, particularly long-range missiles, in order to avoid an escalation of the conflict. Ukraine insists that these restrictions be lifted to allow it to strike deep into Russian soil at “legitimate military targets,” according to Dmytro Kuleba, such as air bases from which planes bombing Ukraine take off.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky renewed this call this week after massive Russian strikes on Monday and Tuesday against Ukrainian cities and infrastructure. Washington agreed to partially lift these restrictions, but only to allow Kiev to defend itself against strikes originating from Russian territories close to the border and the front line, as is the case for example in Kharkiv. The head of European diplomacy Josep Borrell said he was in favor of lifting all these restrictions, but several countries including Italy and Hungary are opposed to it.
“Patriot missiles were promised, but none have been delivered,” the Ukrainian minister also lamented to the press, a subject he will discuss with his European colleagues. Deliveries of these missiles for Ukrainian air defense were promised by the United States and other allies at the NATO summit in Washington in July, but “some of these delays are excessively long,” he added.
One dead, two injured in Ukrainian strikes in Belgorod region
One person was killed and two others were injured in Ukrainian airstrikes in the Belgorod region bordering Ukraine on Thursday, regional governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said on the messaging service. Telegram. “The city of Shebekino was targeted by strikes by Ukrainian forces,” he wrote. “One person was killed.” Two other civilians were hospitalized with shrapnel wounds, the source said, and the strikes also damaged an administrative building and a social infrastructure site.
The Russian Defense Ministry announced on Thursday that it had shot down a drone overnight over the Belgorod region. Two drones were also shot down over the Bryansk region, which also borders Ukraine, and three others were neutralized over annexed Crimea, the ministry said in a statement on Telegram. The Belgorod region is very regularly targeted by deadly strikes and bombings, and has been the subject of several attempted incursions by Ukrainian forces since the start of the conflict in 2022. The neighboring Kursk region has been the scene of an unprecedented offensive by the Ukrainian army since August 6, which claims to have seized dozens of localities.