KYIV —
Moscow on Tuesday warned Lithuania of “serious” consequences over its
restriction of rail traffic to
Russia’s Kaliningrad exclave, as Kremlin forces
made gains in Ukraine’s strategic Donbas region.
اضافة اعلان
The row over
Lithuania, the arrival of sophisticated German weaponry in Ukraine’s arsenal,
and an imminent decision on
Ukraine’s candidacy to join the EU threaten to
further ratchet up tensions between the West and Moscow.
Kremlin troops
were meanwhile gaining ground in the Donbas, causing “catastrophic destruction”
in Lysychansk, an industrial city at the forefront of recent clashes, the region’s
governor said. Ukraine confirmed Russia had taken the frontline village of
Toshkivka.
Governor
Sergiy Gaiday said “every town and village” in Ukrainian hands in Lugansk region was
“under almost non-stop fire”.
Since being
repelled from Kyiv and other parts of Ukraine following its invasion in
February, Moscow is focusing its offensive on the strategic Donbas region.
In the eastern
town of Sloviansk, which could become a flash point as
Russian troops advance
from the north, local people were preparing to withstand attacks and the
authorities said the community would defend itself.
‘Serious’ consequences
Russia’s war of words with
EU member Lithuania escalated on Tuesday, with
Moscow vowing “serious” consequences over Vilnius’ restrictions on rail traffic
to the exclave of Kaliningrad.
Lithuania says it
is simply adhering to EU-wide sanctions on Moscow but Russia countered,
accusing Brussels of “escalation”.
Moscow summoned
the EU’s ambassador to Russia. Its foreign ministry said Lithuania’s actions “violate
the relevant legal and political obligations of the EU”.
“Russia will
certainly respond to such hostile actions,” security council chief Nikolai
Patrushev said at a regional security meeting in Kaliningrad, a Russian region
bordering Lithuania and Poland.
Ukraine’s Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov tweeted that powerful German-made Panzerhaubitze 2000
howizter artillery pieces had joined his country’s forces.
On the ground, the
police chief of the Kyiv region said victims of the Russian attempt to seize
the capital city continued to be found. So far, the bodies of 1,333 civilians
have been discovered and 300 people remain missing.
On the maritime
front, Russia’s navy is blockading ports, which Ukraine says is preventing
millions of tonnes of grain from being shipped to world markets, contributing
to soaring food prices.
Russia said
Tuesday it had repelled a Ukrainian attempt to re-take the symbolic Snake
Island, a small territory in the Black Sea captured by Russian forces on the
first day of the invasion.
Prior to the war,
Ukraine was a major exporter of wheat, corn and sunflower oil.
With European
officials due to gather this week at a summit expected to approve Ukraine’s
candidacy to join the EU, Brussels foreign policy chief Josep Borrell called the
Russians’ port blockade “a real war crime”.
He said it was
happening “while in the rest of the world people are suffering hunger”.
Moscow denies
responsibility for the disruption to deliveries and, following Borrell’s
comments, blamed the West’s “destructive” position for surging grain prices.
Growing concerns
about a food crisis are “the fault of Western regimes, which act as provokers
and destroyers”, said foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Kyiv was engaged in “complex negotiations” to
unblock grain exports, although he cautioned that there was no progress as yet.
In an address to
the African Union, Zelensky said the continent was a “hostage” of the conflict,
and rising food prices had “already brought (the war) to the homes of millions
of African families”.
The EU has pledged an
additional 600 million euros to help vulnerable nations weather the food
security crisis.
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