Day 481 of the Invasion of Ukraine: Kyiv forces retake 8 Settlements in Southern Ukraine

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Day 481 of the invasion of Ukraine. Summary of key events in the last 24 hours:

• The deployment of nuclear weapons in Belarus is not time-limited
• Kyiv forces retake 8 settlements in southern Ukraine, Russia reports shelling with injuries in Belgorod Oblast
• Russian airstrikes in several Ukrainian Oblasts
• Moscow has rejected a UN request for access to flooded areas under Russian control in Ukraine
• Europe will speed up arms deliveries to Ukraine
• Sweden does not rule out the possibility of being attacked by Russia
• The Armed Forces of Ukraine liquidated the deputy commander of the “Storm.Ossetia” battalion
• Russian wrestling chief: We must go to Paris 2024 with tanks

The deployment of nuclear weapons in Belarus is not time-limited

The deployment of Russian tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus is not limited in time, a high-ranking Russian diplomat said today, quoted by Reuters.

Russia announced in March that it would deploy tactical nuclear weapons on the territory of its close ally Belarus, which has provided support to Moscow for its attack on Ukraine. Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said the weapons began arriving last month.

This represents the first deployment since the collapse of the Soviet Union of nuclear warheads of this type outside of Russian territory. Tactical nuclear warheads are weapons of lesser power and range that could potentially be used on the battlefield, Reuters said.

"As for the possible time frame for the presence of Russian tactical nuclear weapons on the territory of Belarus, the Russian-Belarusian agreements do not provide for any restrictions on this issue," the director of the department for former Soviet countries of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs told TASS.

He added that weapons could hypothetically be removed from Belarus if the US and NATO "refrain from undermining the security and sovereignty of Russia and Belarus."

Kyiv forces retake 8 settlements in southern Ukraine, Russia reports shelling with injuries in Belgorod Oblast

The Ukrainian Armed Forces have established control in eight settlements in the course of offensive operations in the direction of Berdyansk and Melitopol over the past two weeks, Ukrainian Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar announced.

Maliar specified that territories with an area of more than 100 square kilometers were liberated. Among the settlements named by her is Piatykhatky in the Zaporizhzhia Oblast, for which there was already an announcement of retreat from the Russian side.

Meanwhile, the British Ministry of Defense briefing notes that Russia may have begun redeploying parts of the Russian Forces Group “Dnepr” to reinforce sections of the front in the Zaporizhzhia Oblast and around Bakhmut. It is noted that these actions are logical, since a large-scale Ukrainian attack across the Dnieper River can hardly be expected after the collapse of the dam wall of the Kakhovka HPP and the subsequent floods.

Seven civilians, including a child, were injured during Ukrainian shelling on the town of Valuyki in Russia's Belgorod region last night, regional governor Vyacheslav Gladkov announced. Several apartment blocks and individual houses were damaged. Two villages were also shelled in the Kursk region, but no one was injured.

Russian airstrikes in several Ukrainian Oblasts

Over the past night, 59 airstrikes and over 100 rocket attacks were registered in Ukraine. The data is from the Ukrainian General Staff. There are dead and wounded civilians, among them children. Over 20 residential buildings were damaged. At least seven people were injured in the Russian Belgorod Oblast after Ukrainian shelling, according to Russian media.

In Odesa and Mykolaiv Oblasts, the anti-aircraft defense systems have worked. Strong explosions were also reported in Zaporizhzhia, in the areas controlled by Ukrainian forces. Authorities are urging the local population to stay in shelters.

In his midnight address, President Zelensky said Ukrainian forces were advancing "very effectively" in the Avdiivka region, Donetsk Oblast. He thanked all those who defend their homeland. According to Zelensky, Russia must start preparing its society for the fact that it will lose everything and that the future of Russia is destroyed.

"You all saw the visit of the delegation from Africa - first to Ukraine, then to the terrorist state. The delegation had the opportunity to see who is really interested in peace and who personifies war, and it was very clear. Everything we discussed here was related to finding a formula for peace. Point by point. Everything that was said in Russia was about the war, about how to continue the destruction. It is obvious that there is no alternative to a peaceful solution. It is good that the world is hearing and seeing more and more," said Volodymyr Zelensky, President of Ukraine.

Moscow has rejected a UN request for access to flooded areas under Russian control in Ukraine

Russia has rejected the UN's request for access to the areas in Ukraine under Russian military control, which are affected by the floods after the dam wall of the Kakhovka hydroelectric power plant was damaged, said the humanitarian coordinator of the world organization for Ukraine Denise Brown.

The UN offered assistance after the waters of the Kakhovka dam flooded these areas and cut off supplies to civilians. Denise Brown called on the Russian authorities to act in accordance with their obligations - under international humanitarian law and under the rule that aid cannot be denied to those in need.

More than 50 people have become victims of the floods, with 35 dead in the territories controlled by the Russian army, while according to Kyiv, 17 have died and more than 30 are missing. More than 11 thousand people were evacuated from both sides.

The ban on bathing on the beaches of the Ukrainian Black Sea city of Odesa remains due to health risks.

Dozens of Kinzhal and Kalibr missiles and about fifty drones have been destroyed in the past week by the Ukrainian defense, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said:

"As much as Russia claims that our Patriot anti-aircraft systems have been destroyed, it should be clear that they are here, shooting down all Russian missiles. In the most efficient way possible. Not a single Patriot has been destroyed!"

Two people died and two were wounded during Russian shelling in the Sumy Oblast during the last 24 hours, the local administration announced.

About 32,000 Russians have returned home after being recruited from prisons to be sent to fight in Ukraine. This is what the head of the private military company "Wagner" Yevgeny Prigozhin told DPA.

Human rights activists have expressed concern that so many criminals have thus been pardoned and released prematurely back into Russian society, and in some cases they have already committed new crimes.

However, Prigozhin considered military service to be an excellent program for resocialization. In a voice message posted on his Telegram channel, he claimed that released men committed fewer crimes than those released after serving their sentences.

DPA notes that the condition of Vladimir Putin's pardon was that they carry out combat missions in Ukraine for at least six months.

The German news agency recalled Prigozhin's words from March, after the capture of the city of Bakhmut, when he said he had lost 20,000 people in the fighting there, including 10,000 former prisoners.

Europe will speed up arms deliveries to Ukraine

The European Union is speeding up arms deliveries to Ukraine to support the country's counter-offensive against Russian forces, European Commissioner for Industry Thierry Breton said in an interview with the French daily Le Parisien, Reuters reported.

"We will increase our efforts to supply weapons and ammunition - this is a high-intensity war in which they play a decisive role," Breton said in reference to the pledge to deliver a million large-caliber ammunition over the next 12 months.

"We are preparing for the war to continue for several more months or even longer," he added.

Ukraine launched a counteroffensive earlier this month to regain control of territory seized by Russian forces, and US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin last Thursday called on Kyiv’s allies to make every effort to secure more weapons and ammunition.

Sweden does not rule out the possibility of being attacked by Russia

The Defense Committee of the Swedish Parliament has prepared a report, according to which the possibility of a Russian military attack against the country cannot be ruled out, Reuters reported. The document is expected to be published today.

The agency recalls that in an attempt to strengthen its defense capacity, Stockholm submitted an application for NATO membership last year. However, Turkey and Hungary have not yet ratified the accession documents.

According to sources familiar with the text, it outlines a new defense doctrine for Sweden, which is based on its membership in NATO, while the previous strategy was oriented towards cooperation with friendly countries from the Scandinavian peninsula as well as those from EU.

The Armed Forces of Ukraine liquidated the deputy commander of the “Storm.Ossetia” battalion

In the war in Ukraine, the deputy commander of the "Storm.Ossetia" battalion Ivango Tekhov was liquidated.

According to Telegram's pro-Russian channels, he and his unit were surrounded in the village of Piatykhatky in the Zaporizhzhia direction.

"None of the fighters gave way, they decided to stand to the last man. As a result, practically the entire battalion died," Russian military personnel claim.

At the same time, they wonder why the battalion was not supported by artillery and aviation.

According to the General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, since the beginning of the full-scale war, the occupiers have lost at least 219,820 people.

Earlier it was reported that Major General Sergey Goryachev, the Chief of Staff of the 35th Russian Army, who was fighting in Donbas, was killed.

Russian wrestling chief: We must go to Paris 2024 with tanks

The president of the Russian wrestling federation, Mikhail Mamiashvili, said that Russia's delegation should go with tanks to the Paris Olympics if the country's athletes are forced to participate under a neutral flag in the refugee team. This is one of the possibilities for Russian athletes to compete at the Games.

The refugee team participates under the Olympic flag, and when an athlete in it wins, the Olympic anthem is played, not the national anthem of the respective country.

"I have no other comment on this, except that those who propose it should be sent to a well-known place. If they want to see us in the refugee team in 2024, we have to go to Paris with tanks. There is no other option," Mamiashvili said in front of "R-Sport", quoted by Inside the Games.

The honorary president of the Russian Olympic Committee, Alexander Zhukov, also believes that the participation of Russians in the refugee team is unthinkable. He thinks that the Olympic Games without Russia will be worse.

"This is simply unacceptable. They will not be able to destroy Russian sport, it is simply impossible. Such conditions can only be dictated under political pressure," Zhukov, who is a former deputy chairman of the State Duma, told TASS.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has recommended that athletes from Russia and Belarus be allowed to compete as neutrals, but no decision has yet been made on the Paris Olympics. IOC President Thomas Bach, however, often repeats a position in favor of the participation of Russian and Belarusian athletes.

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