Ukraine war latest: Kyiv commander says Russian defensive line breached near villages of Bakhmut

Explosions rocked the western Ukrainian city of Lviv in the early hours of Tuesday as Russia launched large-scale airstrikes that hit an industrial warehouse, officials said.

Local officials said air defense systems were busy repelling a Russian airstrike that began in the early hours of the morning.

The entire western half of Ukraine was under air raid alert from around 0000 GMT.

Lviv Mayor Andriy Sadovyi and regional governor Maxim Kozitsky urged people to stay indoors due to the risk of ongoing attacks in the region. “As a result of the strike on the territory of Lviv, we registered a fire in an industrial warehouse,” he said.

The Ukrainian military claims the recent recapture of a key village in Bakhmut will serve as a “springboard” for further offensive actions against Russia’s ongoing invasion.

Ukraine recently scored another victory when it recently recaptured the village of Klishchyivka, which lies on the southern flank of Bakhmut, as its forces repelled Russian attempts to return to the area.

The war-torn country’s forces last week also recaptured Andriivka, another village a few kilometers south of Klishchyivka, after earlier criticism claimed Ukraine’s counteroffensive against Russian forces had eased.

Ukraine’s legal battle against Russia over genocide allegations Moscow is using to justify its 2022 invasion continues on Monday at the United Nations’ highest court, as Russia seeks to have the case dismissed.

In a major show of support, Ukraine will be joined by a record 32 other nations at hearings at the International Court of Justice, also known as the World Court.

Kiev launched the case shortly after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, arguing that the attack was based on false claims of acts of genocide in the Luhansk and Donetsk regions of eastern Ukraine and that Moscow was planning acts of genocide in Ukraine. She wants the court to order Russia to stop its invasion and pay reparations.

Russia’s new ambassador to the Vatican met with Pope Francis on Monday for a protocol visit, as signs emerged that the Vatican’s peace envoy to Ukraine may soon undertake a second mission to Moscow.

The Vatican said Ambassador Ivan Soltanovsky presented Francis with his credentials, signaling the official start of his term. His motorcade was seen leaving the Russian embassy for the Vatican on Monday morning and returning about two hours later.

Soltanovsky replaced Ambassador Alexander Avdeev, whom Francis met at the embassy on February 25, 2022, for a remarkable personal papal visit, a day after Moscow troops entered Ukraine.

Ukraine has courageously resisted Putin’s twisted attempt to regain territory lost to Moscow following the collapse of the Soviet Union and continues to defy the odds by fending off Russian attacks with the help of Western military aid.

Ukraine said it would “reboot” its defense ministry after six deputy defense ministers were fired in the most significant cabinet reshuffle of the war so far.

Among the six fired Monday was Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar, who frequently reported publicly on Russia’s war against Ukraine. The Secretary of State for Defense was also fired.

In a widely criticized interview with Meet the press Host Kristen Welker told Mr. Trump that Putin’s comments proved that “what I’m saying is right” about resolving the 18-month-long war.

The former president has repeatedly claimed, without providing details, that he could end the war within days if he managed to retake the White House.

Mexican President Andres Manuel López Obrador on Monday defended the presence of a Russian military unit at a weekend parade marking Mexico’s Independence Day after sharp criticism that his country had provided a platform for troops invading Ukraine.

Ukraine’s ambassador to Mexico, opposition politicians and critical media outlets on Saturday criticized the decision to allow a Russian entity to take part, but Lopez Obrador said Mexico had allowed any country to take part.

“We have relations with all countries in the world and we invite everyone,” Lopez Obrador said at a regular government news conference after noting that the presence of the Russian entity had caused a “scandal.”

Lopez Obrador, a leftist, has sought to keep Mexico neutral in the Russia-Ukraine war and once proposed peace talks.

Still, his government has supported several key UN resolutions criticizing Russia’s role in the conflict.

Ukrainian Ambassador to Mexico Oksana Dramaretska said on X that the parade was “tainted” by the participation of a Russian unit, which she said was “stained with blood.”

“How coherent is Mr. Lopez Obrador with your policy of neutrality and condemnation of aggression against my country?” Dramaretska wrote on the platform formerly known as Twitter.

The Russian Embassy in Mexico celebrated the participation of the 154th Preobrazhensky Regiment in the event.

“Long live the friendship between Mexico and Russia!” said the Russian embassy on X.

The commander of Ukraine’s ground forces has claimed that the recapture of another village in the east of the country helped Kiev forces break through part of Russian defense lines around the destroyed city of Bakhmut.

The area was a key part of Ukraine’s counteroffensive to recapture territories occupied by Russia as part of its nearly 19-month-long invasion. Bakhmut was the scene of some of the war’s bloodiest battles, acquiring a symbolic significance for both Russia and Ukraine that far exceeds its size.

The recapture of Klishchyivka is considered tactically important as it will allow Ukrainian forces to further expand their gains around Bakhmut and advance further.

The human rights situation in Russia has “deteriorated significantly” since President Vladimir Putin began his war against Ukraine in February last year, an expert commissioned by the UN’s top human rights body said on Monday in her first report on the country.

Mariana Katzarova, the Human Rights Council’s special rapporteur on the human rights situation in Russia, described the domestic crackdown, which was primarily aimed at critics of Putin’s war and other opposition voices in Russia.

Their report, released Monday, is related to another investigation by UN-backed investigators who have accused Russia of war crimes in Ukraine.