Ukraine War Drone Footage and Updates Day 144
- Two people were killed in Nikopol when heavy Russian rocket attacks hit the southern Ukrainian town, the emergency services and regional governor said.
- Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu ordered military units operating in all areas of Ukraine to step up their operations in order to prevent attacks on eastern Ukraine and other territories controlled by Russia, the ministry said in a statement.
- A Russian missile attack hit the northeast Ukrainian town of Chuhuiv in the Kharkiv region overnight, killing three people, including a 70-year-old woman, and wounding three more, the regional governor said
- Agreements on the export of Ukrainian grain would not lead to a resumption in negotiations beween Moscow and Kyiv to end the conflict, said Leonid Slutsky, a Russian lawmaker who has taken part in previous rounds of talks with Kyiv.
- Russia will block the sale of foreign banks’ Russian subsidiaries while Russian banks abroad cannot function normally, said Deputy Finance Minister Alexey Moiseev.
- The EU’s executive proposed new sanctions on Russia, including an import ban on Russian gold. EU governments must still sign off on the measures, expected as early as next week.
- 7 civilians have been evacuated from Sviatohirsk Lavra in Donetsk. Among those evacuated include a family with three children and two elderly people, according to Ukraine’s defense ministry intelligence directorate. The youngest evacuee was born just a few days earlier at a monastery.
- The armed forces of Ukraine are advancing “confidently” towards Kherson, according to a Ukrainian military spokesperson. Natalia Hemeniuk, “Speaking about what is happening directly in Kherson direction, we are advancing there. Maybe we are not moving as fast as those who present positive news would like, but believe me, these steps are very confident.”
- All bodies have been identified after the Vinnytsia missile strike, the region’s governor announced. According to Vinnytsia oblast governor Serhii Borzov, 68 people are currently hospitalized, 14 of them are in serious condition.
- Around 100 to 150 civilians were killed by Russian military strikes in Ukraine over the past two weeks, according to the Pentagon. In a briefing on Friday, a senior US military official said, “And I think all told over the week…we’re looking at between 100, 150, somewhere in there, civilian casualties, civilian deaths, this week in Ukraine as a result of Russian strikes.”