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A Ukrainian husband and father has lost his entire family after a Russian missile destroyed his house in the western city of Lviv.
Yaroslav Bazylevych’s wife Eugenia and the couple’s three daughters, Yarya, 21, Daria, 18 and Emilia, seven, were all killed on Wednesday morning. They were among seven in total that were killed during the aerial assault on Lviv. Yesterday, more than 50 Ukrainians were killed in a Russian missile strike on Poltava in central-east Ukraine.
Photos published online showed Yaroslav watching helplessly as one of his daughters was taken away in a body bag. His face, meanwhile, was caked in blood, while a plaster was fixed above his left eye. His left hand was also bandaged.
Other photos showed fellow residents trying in vain to comfort Yaroslav and calm him down.
The story has shocked a nation already used to continual tragedy, with hundreds of people issuing messages of grief on social media.
“Russia is eliminating Ukrainians by (killing off) entire families,” local mayor Andriy Sadovyi said via social media, referencing Yaroslav’s story. “The Russians are killing our children, our future.”
White House’s Finer meets Zelensky in Kyiv on security, energy
Ukraine’s top priorities for its war against Russia in the remainder of Joe Biden’s term was the key topic as deputy US national security adviser Jon Finer met Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky and other officials in Kyiv yesterday, US officials said.
Finer’s discussions included a 90-minute meeting with Ukrainian military officials to discuss the state of the war and the strategy going forward, the officials told Reuters. The official also got an update on how the Kursk incursion was proceeding, the officials said.
“While in Kyiv, Mr Finer has had the opportunity to meet with president Zelensky and other key Ukrainian officials to coordinate on our strategic planning over the remainder of president Biden’s term,” said White House National Security Council spokesperson Sean Savett.
Mr Finer made the trip at the behest of Mr Biden and national security adviser Jake Sullivan to discuss US support for Ukraine while the Democrat leader remains in office. His term ends on 20 January.
“We have used these meetings to discuss US assistance for Ukraine’s military, economy, and energy system, among other areas, and we will use the outcomes of these meetings to advance the president’s policy to support Ukraine until they prevail in this war,” Mr Savett said.
Another US official said Mr Finer’s hour-long session with Mr Zelensky and top aide Andriy Yermak was productive and substantive and included an update on the state of the war and strategy going forward.
Poland ‘has duty’ to shoot down Russian missiles over Ukraine
‘Zelensky style’ cabinet shuffle was delayed by talks with West, analysts say
Analysts said the government reset had been planned for some time but was postponed as Volodymyr Zelensky had focused on talks with Kyiv’s Western partners to secure military and financial aid.
“This is a planned personnel overhaul of the government,” said Volodymyr Fesenko, a Kyiv-based political analyst.
“Now half of the government will be renewed. This is Zelensky’s style. He believes that the new minister brings new energy, new approaches, works more actively. He expects exactly this effect.”
Fesenko did not expect a major foreign policy change following Kuleba’s expected dismissal.
The Kremlin said that government changes in Ukraine would not affect a peace negotiation process in any way, although such talks appear a distant prospect with the two warring parties far apart in their objectives.
The next few months are key for Mr Zelensky as he seeks to win more support from the West and seize back the initiative in the war with Russia, after its invasion in February 2022.
Surprise Ukrainian resignations include the nation’s top diplomat
A spate of resignations from Ukraine’s government came with one major surprise: the departure of Dmytro Kuleba, the career diplomat who courted Western support for his country’s defence as its tireless foreign minister.
Ahead of a major overhaul of the government, six Cabinet ministers have resigned, sending handwritten notes to parliament that offered little explanation for their decisions. Kuleba was the last to leave yesterday, though his exit has not been formally sanctioned by parliament.
The 43-year-old Kuleba became Ukraine’s most recognisable representative abroad – second only to president Volodymyr Zelensky – and built close relationships with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and European leaders.
Both before and after the full-scale Russian invasion of early 2022, he argued on multiple trips abroad that the outcome of the conflict was a test of Western resolve to push back autocracy.
“I believe that Kuleba is a good communicator, and it’s bad to lose him as minister, but we do not know what his next position will be,” said Olexiy Haran, a professor of political science at Kyiv Mohyla University.
Haran said Kuleba’s departure was unlikely to bring any change to Ukrainian foreign policy, given the list of his possible successors.
One killed in Russian shelling in Donetsk
At least one person has been killed and three others injured this morning in eastern Ukraine as Russian forces shelled a residential area of Kostiantynivka town, officials said.
The attack used a multiple rocket launcher, prosecutors in the eastern Donetsk region said in a report on Telegram. One body was pulled from under rubble, they added.
Kostiantynivka has long been viewed as a key target for Russian forces advancing slowly westward through the Donetsk region. It lies northeast of Pokrovsk, the sector seeing the heaviest fighting on the eastern part of the 1,000km (600 mile) front line.
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Watch: Drone rains down molten thermite on Ukrainian battlefield
Watch: Drone rains down molten thermite on Ukrainian battlefield
A drone rained down molten thermite on the battlefield in Ukraine, setting alight a line of trees, footage shows. The unmanned aerial vehicle is seen moving from left to right across the position, leaving orange flames and rising smoke. Thermite, a mixture of metal powder and metal oxide, is used in the making of incendiary bombs. Both Ukrainian and Russian sources have claimed credit for a video circulating on social media which appears to show a first-person view drone being used. The Independent has not verified either of these claims.
At least 51 killed in one of deadliest Russian attacks of Ukraine war
Source: independent.co.uk
