The Russian Ministry of Defense announced today, Wednesday, that its forces took control of the town of Novomicolayevka, in the Sumi region, northeast of Ukraine, just about 4 kilometers from the Russian border.
This progress comes within a wide Russian military escalation in the border areas with Ukraine, at a time when efforts to achieve a truce between the two parties are stumbled.
The ministry confirmed in a statement via the Telegram application that the Russian forces also took control of the town of Duvinke in the neighboring area of Kharkif. These moves are an extension of extensive offensive operations launched by Moscow for weeks.
In the same context, the official Russian “TASS” agency quoted the Ministry of Defense as saying that the Russian forces successfully bombed the Ukrainian forces in the Sumi area using the short -range “Iskandar” missile, in light of fierce battles taking place in the border areas.
This escalation comes at a time when the Ukrainian authorities announced the rise of the death toll from the Russian bombing of the capital, Kiev, to 22 dead and 134 injured, after the recovery of 6 additional bodies from under the ruins of a 9 -storey residential building that was hit on Tuesday.
The Ukrainian Minister of Interior, Ehur Clemeno, said that the attack was carried out by the KH-101 Cruise missile, and that it was direct and deliberate targeting of civilians.
In turn, he described the Ukrainian president Volodimir Zellinski The attack on Kiev with “pure terrorism”, stressing that Russia has mobilized about 53,000 soldiers in the Sumi area in preparation for a new escalation.
It is noteworthy that Russia tried to seize the capital of the Sumi region at the beginning of its war on Ukraine in 2022, before the Ukrainian forces confronted it in a counter -attack in a later period of that year.
An upcoming visit to Zelinski
In a related context, a source in the Ukrainian presidency reported the intention of the NATO summit (NATO Summit (NATOOn The Hague on June 24 and 25, where the president seeks to promote a comprehensive ceasefire proposal.
For its part, Moscow has so far rejects any unconditional truce, considering that it will give Kiev an opportunity to re -armed with Western support.
The peace talks between Moscow and Kiev are still suspended, as Russia continues to offer demands that include Ukraine’s recognition of Moscow’s annexation of five regions, and to stop its endeavors to join NATO.
On the other hand, Kyiv rejects these demands and describes them as “unacceptable warnings.”
While the NATO Summit will start with an official dinner at the invitation of the king of the Netherlands, Zelinski is expected to attend the summit without participating in the official meetings, as a meeting will take place between NATO and Ukraine at the ministerial level only, according to diplomats from the alliance.