War in Ukraine: plan for a “just peace”, 7 dead in Russian strikes, fire at an oil depot extinguished… update on the situation

Un bâtiment résidentiel détruit dans la ville de Toretsk, près de la ligne de front à Donetsk, en Ukraine, le 15 juin 2024, au milieu de l’invasion russe (illustration). MAXPPP – Oleg Petrasiuk/24th Mechanized Brigade HANDOUT

Every day, Midi Libre takes stock of the situation in Ukraine. This Friday, June 28, 2024, discover the latest news around this conflict.

The war in Ukraine would never have happened if the United States had a "leader", Trump said

The war in Ukraine would never have happened if the United States had a “leader”, Donald Trump told President Joe Biden during their debate in Atlanta. The Republican candidate was very critical of the billions of dollars spent by the United States to support kyiv in its war against Moscow.

Russia claims the capture of a village in the Donetsk region

The Russian Defense Ministry claimed Friday the capture of the village of Rozdolivka, in the Ukrainian region of Donetsk (east), where its soldiers are advancing against troops from kyiv.

The ministry indicated in a statement that its troops had "liberated the village of Rozdolivka", a locality located in about 20 kilometers northeast of Bakhmout, a town that Russia captured last year.

Fire at oil depot extinguished after Ukrainian drone attack in Russia

Russian authorities said they had extinguished on Friday the fire caused by a Ukrainian drone strike on a Russian oil depot belonging to the Druzhba pipeline network which connects Russia to Europe.

The government of Russia's Tambov region said the reservoir was located at the site of the Nikolskoye station, some 500 km from the Ukrainian border. "The fire, which was caused by a drone attack, has been extinguished. Work is underway to cool the reservoir", he indicated on his Telegram account.

Russia threatens ’confrontation" in Ukraine, and previously banned missiles

Russian President Vladimir Putin said Friday that Russia should start producing previously banned short- and medium-range missiles, after warning Washington of the risk of “direct confrontation” linked to American drone missions in the Black Sea.

This week, Russia also blamed the United States for a strike on Sunday in Crimea, a Ukrainian peninsula annexed by Moscow in 2014, committed according to it by Kiev using American ATACMS tactical missiles with a range of 300 km, which left four dead and more than 150 injured.

Seven civilians killed in Russian strikes in eastern Ukraine

Four civilians were killed Friday in a Russian bombing of the small town of New York in eastern Ukraine, and three others died in strikes in the northeast and south, officials said. authorities. The town of New York and its neighbor Toretsk, located on the front line, have been subject to intense bombing since mid-June by the Russians seeking to advance in the Donetsk region (east). 60~/p>

"Toretsk is under fire again, at least four people were killed and two injured",explained the governor of the region, Vadym Filachkine, in a press release on Telegram, implicating a “guided” bomb. In the Kharkiv region, in northeastern Ukraine, where the Russian army launched a major ground assault in May, Russian artillery fire caused deaths in the morning of a 56-year-old woman in a border village, declared the Ministry of the Interior.

Zelensky says he is preparing a plan for a "just peace" while continuing to strengthen militarily

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Friday he was working on a new plan to end the war in Ukraine, while continuing to strengthen militarily to be able to force Russia to accept a &quot ;just peace".

"It is very important for us to show a plan to end the war that is supported by the majority (of countries) in the world, that" rsquo;is what we are doing on the diplomatic level", he said during a press conference in Kiev, alongside his Slovenian counterpart Natasha Pirc Musar. "We do not want to prolong this war and we must achieve a just peace as quickly as possible", he added.

But Volodymyr Zelensky also insisted on the fact that his country must at the same time strengthen its military industry, because "Russia only understands force, and only respects the strong".

"These are two things in parallel: being strong on the battlefield, and developing a plan, a clear and detailed plan, which will be ready this year", he insisted.