The Russian Invasion

The Russian InvasionThe Battles
Russia: We have taken control of several societies

Russia has taken control of the communities of Glyboke and Lukyantski in the Kharkiv region and retaken symbolically important Robotyne in southern Ukraine on Wednesday. That is what the Russian Ministry of Defense claims, writes Reuters.

Robotyne was one of the few villages Ukraine liberated during the counter-offensive last summer, writes AFP.

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The Russian InvasionThe Battles
Ukraine's military withdraws troops from eastern Kharkiv: "Avoid losses"

The Ukrainian military says it has withdrawn troops from parts of the eastern Kharkiv region, writes AFP. The announcement comes after the Russian army continued its offensive at the big city.

In a statement, the military states that the decision was made to "save the lives of our soldiers and avoid losses". They write that soldiers have been moved to "more advantageous positions".

The General Staff says in a statement that the situation at the front "remains difficult".

The Russian ground offensive began last week. Ukrainian intelligence chief Kyrylo Budanov warned on state television that Russia could use reserve forces to reinforce Kharkiv in the coming days, according to Sky News.

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The Russian InvasionThe Battles
Russia: Crimean peninsula exposed to "massive" attack

Ukraine reportedly attacked the Russian-occupied city of Sevastopol on the Crimean Peninsula overnight. This is what the Russian governor Mikhail Razvozjavev writes on Telegram.

According to Razvozjavev, no one has been injured. The governor's information could not be confirmed, writes TT.

During the attack, the Russian Air Force destroyed ten US-supplied ATACMS long-range robots over Crimea, writes Sky News and refers to the Russian Ministry of Defense.

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Russian invasionRussian influence
Russia uses protests against war as propaganda

The Russian military intelligence service, the GRU, is accused of conducting operations in, among other places, Germany to influence aid to Ukraine, reports Bloomberg. The news agency has obtained documents and talked to anonymous government sources that also show that Russia is using peace demonstrations in Germany as propaganda.

It concerns, among other things, the photo project "Children of War", which drew attention to the suffering of children in war zones at an exhibition in several European cities in the summer of 2022. Bloomberg's sources state that the organizer, Alternative Kinder Zukunft, used the platform to campaign against NATO and call for an end to arms deliveries to Ukraine.

At the same time, images and videos of the peace protests are being spread on Russian social media and on regime-loyal news agencies to portray Germany as a divided country.

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The Russian invasion|The world's response
Zelensky cancels all planned trips

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy cancels all planned travel. This is confirmed by the president's press secretary on Facebook.

Earlier on Wednesday, it emerged that the president's trips to Spain and Portugal had been cancelled. According to CNN Portugal, it is due to the ongoing fighting in Ukraine.

During the trip to the Iberian Peninsula, Zelenskyy was expected to sign a bilateral security cooperation agreement with Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez. Zelenskyi would also have met the Spanish King Felipe VI.