Ukraine war: Russia intensifies its bombing in the east. Moscow summons EU ambassador. Lithuania threatened over Kaliningrad

Russia has intensified its bombing in the east and accuses Ukraine of hitting drilling rigs in the Black Sea near Crimea.

Russian forces have again hit buildings and a checkpoint at the Azov chemical plant in Severodonetsk and fired on the city’s brick factory, and fierce fighting continues in the industrial district, Lugansk regional military chief Sergei Gaidai was quoted as saying on Tuesday. of Ukrainska Pravda. Doctors are still working in one of Severodonetsk’s hospitals, Gaidai said.

Several explosions were heard in Kherson and Nikolaev on Tuesday morning, according to local media, quoted by Ukrainska Pravda.

Russian bombings in the Kharkiv region have killed three civilians, according to the Kyiv Independent. Kharkiv Governor Oleh Syniehubov says a 65-year-old woman was killed in an attack on the village of Kutuzivka, while two others – a 61-year-old woman and a 49-year-old man – were killed in the town of Balakliya. Two other civilians were injured in the industrial district of Kharkiv.

Russia is allegedly holding more than 1,500 Ukrainian civilians in prisons 

More than 1,500 Ukrainian civilians are being held in Russian prisons, according to Deputy Prime Minister Irina Vereșciuk. Russia is holding more than 1,500 Ukrainian civilians in prisons, Ukraine’s deputy prime minister said in a briefing. “I am in Rostov, Kursk, I am in prison, I am being held as a prisoner of war, although I should not be a prisoner,” she said.

EU states to convene for Ukraine’s, Moldova’s accession bids

Meanwhile, European Council President Charles Michel will this week invite the 27 EU member states to grant Ukraine and the Republic of Moldova candidate status for accession to the European Union. A number of important European leaders said the decision was necessary, primarily as a gesture of solidarity and recognition of Ukraine’s courage and success on the battlefield in the face of a sustained Russian invasion.

All 27 EU Member States must agree and offer Ukraine candidate status. This is followed by a complicated political and bureaucratic process.

None of the EU ambassadors opposed the decision to support Ukraine’s EU bid during their meeting on Monday, according to Bloomberg, citing sources.

Moscow summons EU ambassador 

One of President Vladimir Putin’s most important allies arrived in the Russian enclave Kaliningrad on Tuesday to discuss national security amid a dispute with Lithuania, which has halted rail transit of goods subject to EU sanctions, as Reuters reports. Nikolai Patrushev, secretary of the Russian Security Council, chaired a meeting on security in northwestern Russia in Kaliningrad, according to the state news agency RIA, quoted by Reuters. The move, which includes a discussion on transport, was planned before Vilnius banned the transit of EU-sanctioned goods through Lithuanian territory to and from the slave, citing EU rules, according to the RIA.

Reuters reports that Nikolai Patrushev had threatened Europe with harsh retaliation. “Your people will feel the pain of this decision,” he allegedly said.

Patrushev also stated that Lithuania’s “hostile” actions showed that “Russia cannot trust” the West, which it said had violated its Kaliningrad commitments. “Russia will certainly respond to such hostile actions. Appropriate measures are being considered and will be taken in the near future. The consequences of this decision will have a serious negative impact on the population of Lithuania,” Patrushev said.

The Russian Foreign Ministry also called the European Union’s ambassador to Moscow, Markus Ederer, in connection with Lithuania’s ban on the transit of goods to Kaliningrad, as a result of sanctions imposed by the Union, writes The Guardian.

Vilnius has banned the transit of goods through Lithuanian territory to and from Russian territories between Lithuania and Poland, citing EU sanctions and rules. Anton Alikhanov, the governor of Kaliningrad, told Russian television that the situation could be resolved by “diplomatic means.” At the same time, Russia has threatened to retaliate.

Russian journalist Dmitry Muratov sells his Nobel Peace Prize for more than $ 103 M to help Ukrainian children

Russian journalist Dmitry Muratov has sold his Nobel Peace Prize for more than $ 103 million to help Ukrainian refugees, according to Kyiv Independent and Nexta.

The 2021 Nobel Peace Prize medal of Novaya Gazeta editor-in-chief Dmitry #Muratov was sold at an auction for $103.5 million.

All proceeds will go to support the @UNICEF humanitarian mission to help #Ukrainian refugee children and their families. pic.twitter.com/HCzPwN7fh3

— NEXTA (@nexta_tv) June 21, 2022