Russia warned Lithuania on Tuesday of the “serious” consequences of the restrictions that that NATO and EU country imposed on rail traffic to the Russian enclave of Kaliningrad and continued its military offensive in the strategic Ukrainian region of Donbas.
Tensions with Lithuania, as well as the arrival of sophisticated German weapons for Ukraine and the probable imminent authorization for kyiv to present its candidacy for accession to the European Union (EU) threaten to further sharpen the tension between Russia and the Western powers.
Russian troops, who invaded Ukraine on February 24, continued to gain ground in the Donbas basin (east), made up of the Lugansk and Donetsk regions.
The offensive is causing “catastrophic destruction” in Lisychansk, an industrial citysaid Donetsk Governor Sergei Gaidai.
In fact, “all cities and towns” in Ukrainian hands in the Luhansk region are “under fire almost uninterrupted” from the invading troops, he added.
Ukraine confirmed that Russia had taken the town of Toshkivka, in the front line of combat.
The Russian offensive, after being repelled in kyiv and other parts of Ukraine, focused on Donbas, partially controlled by pro-Russian separatists since 2014.
In Sloviansk (east), the population prepares to resist. “We believe that [los resistentes] will beat the Russian scum,” said Valentina, a 63-year-old resident.
Sloviansk was taken over by pro-Russian separatists in 2014 but recovered by the Ukrainian forces after a long siege.
The police chief of the kyiv region said that victims of the Russian attempt continued to be found to take the capital, at the beginning of the conflict. So far, the bodies of 1,333 civilians have been discovered and 300 people are still missing, he said.
– “Serious” consequences for Lithuania –
Russia warned that the restrictions on rail traffic to the enclave of Kaliningrad imposed by Lithuania would have “serious” consequences for that country.
Lithuania alleges that it is merely complying with the sanctions imposed by the EU against Moscow due to the invasion of Ukraine, but Russia denounces an “escalation”.
According to Moscow, Lithuania’s actions “violate the relevant legal and political obligations of the European Union.”
“Russia, of course, will react to these hostile acts,” Russian Security Council chief Nikolai Patrushev told a regional security meeting in Kaliningrad, a Russian region bordering Lithuania and Poland on the Baltic Sea.
Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov announced that German-made Panzerhaubitze 2000 howitzer artillery pieces had reinforced his country’s arsenal.
Germany warned for its part that the recent cuts in Russian gas deliveries to European countries constitute an “attack” that seeks to “sow chaos in the European energy market,” according to German Economy and Climate Minister Robert Habeck. .
– Clashes in the Black Sea –
The Russian navy blocks Black Sea ports, which Ukraine says prevents millions of tons of grain from being exported and contributes to rising food prices around the world.
Ukraine said Tuesday that it had bombed oil platforms in the Black Sea used as military “installations” by the Russians the day before.
Russia indicated for its part that it had repelled a Ukrainian attempt to retake Snake Island, a small territory in the Black Sea conquered by Russian forces on the first day of the invasion.
In the eastern Kharkov region, at least 15 people, including an eight-year-old boy, were killed by Russian bombardment on Tuesday, its governor said.
– “significant” losses
In addition to Toshkivka, Ukraine admitted that it had lost control of the village of Metyolkin (east), adjacent to Severodonetsk, a focus of fighting for weeks and now largely under Russian control.
A chemical plant in Severodonetsk, where hundreds of civilians are believed to be sheltering, is under constant shelling, Ukrainian authorities have warned.
But Defense Ministry spokesman Oleksandr Motuzyanyk told Ukrainian television that Russian forces had suffered “significant losses in the Severodonetsk area.”
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told NBC News that two Americans he captured while fighting alongside the Ukrainian army committed “crimes” and will be “held to account.”
US Attorney General Merrick Garland visited Ukraine on Tuesday to discuss the prosecution of people involved in alleged Russian war crimes.
