Ukraine: Russia has destroyed S-300 anti-aircraft missile systems which had been supplied to Ukraine by a European country, Russia’s defence ministry said on Monday. The ministry said that Russian sea-launched Kalibr missiles on Sunday destroyed four S-300 launchers which were concealed in a hangar on the outskirts of the Ukrainian city of Dnipro. Russia said 25 Ukrainian troops were hit in the attack. Russia did not say which European country had supplied the S-300 systems.
Ukraine’s President warned his nation that the coming week would be as crucial as any in the war. “Russian troops will move to even larger operations in the east of our state,” Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in his nightly address. He accused Russia of trying to evade responsibility for war crimes. Russian President Vladimir Putin on Sunday appointed a new Ukraine war commander. One of Russia’s most experienced military officers; Gen. Alexander Dvornikov has a record of brutality against civilians in Syria, according to U.S. officials.
Meanwhile, US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said that he expects Russia’s newly appointed general overseeing Ukraine, Alexander Dvornikov, to orchestrate crimes and brutality against Ukrainian civilians. Sullivan did not cite any evidence. Beneath the ancient beech forests of the Carpathian Mountains, a quiet monastery in the western Ukrainian village of Hoshiv has transformed itself into a giant playground for a dozen children who have been displaced by the war with their families.
Nuns at the Greek Catholic Congregation of the Sisters of the Holy Family, 100 kilometres from Lviv, have granted refuge to some 40 people fleeing fighting with Russian forces in eastern and central Ukraine. UK military intelligence said Russian shelling has continued in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions. The use of phosphorous munitions in Donetsk Oblast by Russian forces raises the possibility of its future use in Mariupol, intelligence further suggested.