Russian forces consolidated their field gains in Ukraine, as they took control of an oil refinery in Lyschansk in the Lugansk region of the Donbass region (east), and bombed a town in the Odessa province (south), which led to deaths, while the United States and Britain pledged more support to Kiev to help it repel Russian attack.
And the French press agency reported, quoting a Ukrainian official, as saying that 10 people were killed when a Russian missile fell Thursday evening on an apartment building in the town of Belgorod-Dniester (80 km south of Odessa) on the Black Sea.
He added that the missile was launched by a “strategic aircraft” from the sky of the Black Sea.
According to the spokesman, “the missile hit a 9-storey apartment building.
In turn, Al-Jazeera correspondent reported hearing the sound of 7 explosions at dawn today, Friday, in the Mykolaiv region in southern Ukraine.
The last city
Earlier, pro-Russian separatist forces announced full control of the oil refinery area in Lyschansk in the Donbass region, which Russian forces are seeking to fully control.
Russian state media broadcast pictures of Russian forces taking control of the refinery.
Lyschansk is the last city under Ukrainian control in the Lugansk region.
Russian withdrawal
In a related matter, the Russian Defense Ministry announced yesterday the evacuation of its forces from Snake Island, which it occupied at the beginning of its military operation in Ukraine on February 24.
The ministry said that the decision was made to prove that Russia does not stand in the way of exporting grain from Ukraine, and to prevent Kyiv from “trading in the issue of food.”
For his part, the Director of the Ukrainian President’s Office confirmed that his country’s forces expelled the Russians from the strategic Snake Island in the Black Sea.
Ukrainian media said that the country’s forces targeted the Russian forces on the island with artillery and missile strikes.
continue support
These developments coincided with Kyiv receiving promises of additional financial and military aid from the United States and Britain.
At the conclusion of a NATO summit in Madrid, US President Joe Biden pledged to continue supporting Ukraine until it is sure that it is not defeated by Russia.
“We were united during the NATO summit to face the challenges posed by Russia and China… We are strengthening our presence everywhere and we will have a presence in the Baltic countries,” Biden said during a press conference.
He stressed that the United States is gathering the world to support Ukraine, and that there are countries that have made new commitments to achieve that support, pointing out that his country has provided about $7 billion to Kiev since the beginning of his administration’s term, and that it will announce additional military aid worth $800 million in the next few days.
In turn, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced that his country would provide additional military support to Ukraine in the amount of one billion pounds ($1.2 billion) to strengthen its defense capabilities against Russia.
“We will continue to stand squarely behind the Ukrainian people to ensure the failure of (Russian President Vladimir) Putin in Ukraine,” Johnson said.
As for Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, he stressed the need to intensify the diplomatic movement to reach a ceasefire in Ukraine.
Erdogan said that a United Nations-sponsored mechanism will be launched in Istanbul to remove grain from Ukrainian ports through the Black Sea.