Russia strikes Donetsk military sites, calls NATO bid of Finland, Sweden ‘grave mistake’

The Russian army has focused its fresh offensive in Ukraine on the eastern Donetsk region, targeting military sites in several towns across the restive region, the Ukrainian military said on Monday.

It also accused the Russian forces of targeting civilian infrastructure in the towns of Dovhenke, Ruski Tyshki, Terranova, and Petricka. The Russian military has not yet commented on the claim.

The general staff of Ukraine’s armed forces claimed that Russia’s military continued its air and artillery strikes around the Azovstal plant in Mariupol, the last holdout of Ukrainian forces in the strategic city.

It said the Russian military was using a range of weaponry on Ukrainian military fortifications and units to proceed with its offensive in the eastern region.

Around Ukraine’s second-largest city Kharkiv, Russian forces are now concentrating on “maintaining positions and preventing the advance of our troops toward the border,” the Ukrainian army noted.

In the Donbas region, Russian forces were reportedly trying to encircle Ukrainian forces and fend off a counteroffensive around the city of Izyum in the east.

The main target in eastern Ukraine has been Ukrainian command centers and arsenals in the Russian-controlled city of Izyum, which is a strategic gateway to the Donbas region.

Ukraine also claimed to have repelled more than 15 Russian attacks on Sunday, destroying almost a dozen pieces of Russian equipment, including helicopters, cruise missiles, and drones.

NATO pledges open-ended aid to Ukraine as Russia warns of risks to global security

NATO has pledged open-ended military support for Ukraine, as Finland and Sweden formally announced their bid to join the military alliance.

Russia warns against NATO bid of Finland, Sweden

Moscow has again reiterated its opposition to the membership bid of Finland and Sweden in the NATO military alliance, calling it a mistake with far-reaching consequences.

“This is another grave mistake with far-reaching consequences,” Russia’s deputy foreign minister Sergei Ryabkov told reporters on Monday, adding that “the general level of military tensions will increase.”

Ryabkov said the move will radically change the global situation and warned that the two Scandinavian countries “should have no illusions that Russia will simply put up with their decision.”

“It is a pity that common sense is being sacrificed for some phantom ideas about what should be done in the current situation,” Ryabkov added.

Moscow had earlier warned Finland, with which it shares a 1,300-kilometer border, that it would take “reciprocal steps”.

The remarks come after Swedish and Finnish leaders announced their intention to join NATO, after decades of military neutrality.

The foreign ministers of the alliance attended a summit in the German capital this week to focus on the membership bids of Finland and Sweden.

Apart from Russia, which views NATO expansion as a threat to its security, Turkey has also strongly objected to the move.

Moscow has long expressed grievances about NATO’s eastward expansion. One of its key security demands from the West before the Ukraine operation was a guarantee that Ukraine would never be part of the US-led military alliance.

Russia launched a military operation in Ukraine in late February, following Kiev’s failure to implement the terms of the Minsk agreements and Moscow’s recognition of the breakaway regions of Donetsk and Luhansk.

At the time, Russian President Vladimir Putin said one of the goals of what he called a “special military operation” was to “de-Nazify” Ukraine.

The military operation, now into its third month, has led to heightened tensions between Russia and the West, with the US and its allies slapping unprecedented sanctions on Moscow.

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