STOCKHOLM — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy visited Sweden on Saturday, his first go to to the nation since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine final 12 months, whereas at house a missile strike within the middle of a northern metropolis killed 5 folks and wounded dozens.
The Swedish authorities mentioned Zelenskyy will meet officers in Harpsund, about 120 kilometers (75 miles) west of Stockholm. He may even meet Sweden’s King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia at a palace within the space.
Sweden deserted its longstanding coverage of army nonalignment to help Ukraine with weapons and different assist within the battle in opposition to Russia. It additionally utilized for NATO membership however continues to be ready to affix the alliance.
A Russian missile strike killed 5 folks and wounded 37 others on Saturday within the metropolis middle of Chernihiv, the regional capital of the northern province of the identical identify, Inside Minister Ihor Klymenko mentioned.
Zelenskyy condemned the assault, which he mentioned hit buildings together with a theater and a college.
“That is what a neighborhood with a terrorist state is, that is what we unite the entire world in opposition to. A Russian missile hit proper within the middle of the town, in our Chernihiv,” the Ukrainian president wrote on Telegram. “A sq., the polytechnic college, a theater. An unusual Saturday, which Russia became a day of ache and loss.”
In Russia, President Vladimir Putin visited high army officers within the metropolis of Rostov-on-Don close to the Ukrainian border.
The Kremlin mentioned that Putin listened to studies from Valery Gerasimov, the commander answerable for Moscow’s operations in Ukraine, and different high army brass on the headquarters of Russia’s Southern Army District.
The precise timings of his go to weren’t confirmed, however state media revealed video footage that gave the impression to be filmed at night time, exhibiting Gerasimov greeting Putin and main him right into a constructing. The assembly itself was held behind closed doorways.
Putin’s go to was the primary for the reason that Wagner mercenary group ’s tried mutiny in June, which noticed the group’s fighters briefly take management of Rostov-on-Don.
Throughout June’s short-lived revolt, Wagner head Yevgeny Prigozhin repeatedly denounced Gerasimov, who serves as chief of the overall workers of the Russian armed forces, and Protection Minister Sergei Shoigu for denying provides to his fighters in Ukraine.
Prigozhin claimed that the rebellion was not geared toward Putin however at eradicating Gerasimov and different high brass who he claimed had been mismanaging the battle in Ukraine.
Ukraine this week has claimed counteroffensive positive aspects on the southeastern entrance, regaining management of the village of Urozhaine in Ukraine’s japanese Donetsk area on Wednesday.
The chief of the Russian battalion combating to take care of management of Urozhaine referred to as for “freezing the entrance” on Thursday, claiming his troops “can not win” in opposition to Ukraine.
“Can we deliver down Ukraine militarily? Now and within the close to future, no,” Alexander Khodakovsky mentioned in a video posted to Telegram.
In a single day into Saturday, Ukraine’s air drive mentioned it shot down 15 out of 17 Russian drones focusing on Ukraine’s northern, central and western areas.
The deputy governor of the western Khmelnytskyi area, Serhii Tiurin, mentioned two folks had been wounded and dozens of buildings broken by an assault.
Within the northwestern Zhytomyr area, a Russian drone assault focused an infrastructure facility and prompted a hearth, however no casualties had been reported, mentioned Gov. Vitalii Bunechko.
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Observe AP’s protection of the battle in Ukraine: https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine