‘Bakery’ attack targeted Russian officials, not civilians, say Ukrainians; Kyiv mayor Klitschko backs military chief Zaluzhnyi
Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, has submitted a proposal to the Ukrainian parliament to extend martial law and general mobilisation for another 90 days.
After Zelenskiy said he was considering a “reset” to replace several senior officials, Kyiv’s mayor, Vitalii Klitschko, has criticised the possibility of firing the military commander-in-chief, Gen Valerii Zaluzhnyi, saying it was due to his leadership that “many Ukrainians truly trust the armed forces”. Klitschko and Zelenskiy have traded criticisms during the war.
Russia has admitted that one of its senior occupation officials, Alexey Poteleshchenko, was among those killed when a supposed bakery in Russian-held Lysychansk was bombed. The Kremlin had previously characterised the casualties as civilians. Russian state-run news agencies RIA Novosti and Tass have now reported that Poteleshchenko was a former pro-Russian militiaman who, at the time of his death, was minister of emergency situations in the self-proclaimed, Russian-controlled Luhansk People’s Republic.
The Ukrainian regional public broadcaster Suspilne Donbas and the Kyiv Independent reported the bakery was set up after the Russian occupation of Lysychansk, and supplied Russian proxy forces, as well as providing a meeting place for Russian-backed officials. Suspilne cited the exiled, Ukrainian-run Lysychansk city military as saying: “The arrival [missile strike] was at a time when the occupiers had gathered there.”
Russia launched an attack against the Ukrainian city of Kherson on Monday, killing at least four people and injuring one, officials said.
Senate Republicans close to Donald Trump have distanced themselves from a bipartisan bill that would include wartime aid for Ukraine. Both Democratic and Republican negotiators in the upper house have unveiled their proposal for a US$118bn package of border enforcement and funding for Ukraine, Israel and other US allies. The speaker of the House of Representatives, Mike Johnson, has threatened that the deal would be “dead on arrival” there.
A senior official with Ukraine’s intelligence agency has been fired after revelations that investigative journalists were wiretapped, according to a source of the AFP news agency. Reporters Without Borders (RSF) had called on authorities to investigate several alleged instances of intimidation.
The Netherlands’ defence ministry is readying six additional F-16 fighter aircraft for delivery to Ukraine, Kajsa Ollongren, the defence minister has announced.
Russian anti-war presidential candidate Boris Nadezhdin said a working group of the central election commission had invalidated 15% of supporters’ signatures backing his election bid. That figure, if confirmed, exceeds the allowable error rate and would provide grounds to disqualify Nadezhdin from running against Vladimir Putin. The commission has previously used the excuse of incorrect paperwork to disqualify candidates who might pose a threat to Putin, however remote. A final ruling was due on Wednesday, Nadezhdin said.
