Ukraine reports military gains as Russia invasion enters second month
LA TimesThe war in Ukraine entered its second month Thursday with Ukrainian military forces fending off Russian ground attacks in major cities — and in some areas launching counteroffensives — as deadly bombings continued to worsen the country’s humanitarian crisis. So far we haven’t got a clear answer.” In Brussels on Thursday for emergency summits with NATO, the Group of 7 leading industrialized nations and the European Commission, President Biden committed to more humanitarian aid for Ukraine but stopped short of promising Zelensky more military force beyond the U.S. weapons and ammunition that he said were already en route to the country. “It deprives the Russians of one of their most common weapons in this war — terror.” Ukraine’s Defense Ministry said Thursday that Ukrainian forces had destroyed a large Russian landing ship, the Orsk of the Black Sea fleet, at the Russian-occupied port of Berdyansk, about 45 miles southwest of Mariupol. “The destroyed ship in Berdyansk could carry up to 20 tanks, 45 armored personnel carriers and 400 paratroopers,” Ukraine’s deputy defense minister, Anna Malyar, said on Ukrainian TV. “This is a huge target that was hit by our military.” In an intelligence update late Thursday, the British Defense Ministry described the Russian ship and nearby ammunition storage depots that were also hit as “high value targets.” It said that if such attacks continue, they could “force the Russian military to prioritize the defense of their supply chain” and “reduce Russia’s ability to conduct offensive operations, and further damage already dwindling morale.” In the north in Chernihiv, close to the Belarusian border, government officials reported that Russian bombs tore apart a key bridge Wednesday that was used to truck in humanitarian aid and evacuate residents.