In the Russian republic of Chechnya, in the North Caucasus, the head of the republic, Ramzan Kadyrov, said he had sent new troops with “volunteers” to fight in Ukraine. In a video purportedly showing units at the airport in the Chechen capital Grozny, the uniformed men vowed to “annihilate” the Ukrainian nationalists. These recordings could not be independently verified. Ukraine has repeatedly accused Chechen units of particular brutality in the Russian war of aggression.
attacks in the east
Meanwhile, Russia says it has fired on targets in dozens of cities in new rocket and artillery strikes in eastern Ukraine. The attacks focused on the Donetsk region, in the neighboring region of Kharkiv the village of Udy had been taken, the Russian Defense Ministry announced on Sunday in Moscow. The information could not be independently verified.
The Ukrainian General Staff in Kyiv also reported massive attacks in the east and south of the country; in the Donetsk region, an enemy attempt to break through the defense line towards Sloviansk was repulsed.
The situation is virtually unchanged, he said in Kyiv. The Russian military said it set fire to and destroyed a fuel depot near Sloviansk.