Kaliningrad rail blockade: Russia warns Lithuania of ‘serious’ consequences
Moscow yesterday warned Lithuania of "serious" consequences over its restriction of rail traffic to Russia's Kaliningrad exclave, as Kremlin forces made gains in Ukraine's strategic Donbas region.
Kremlin troops were causing "catastrophic destruction" in Lysychansk, an industrial city at the forefront of clashes in the eastern Donbas, the region's governor said. Ukraine confirmed Russia had taken frontline village Toshkivka.
Governor Sergiy Gaiday said "every town and village" in Ukrainian hands in Lugansk region was "under almost non-stop fire".
Since being repelled from Kyiv and other parts of Ukraine following its invasion in February, Moscow is focusing its offensive on the strategic Donbas region.
In the eastern town of Sloviansk, which could become a flash point as Russian troops advance from the north, local people were preparing to withstand attack and the authorities said the community would defend itself.
"We believe they'll beat the Russian scum," resident Valentina, 63, said of local Ukrainian forces.
Russia's war of words with EU member Lithuania escalated yesterday, vowing "serious" consequences over Vilnius' restrictions on rail traffic to the exclave of Kaliningrad.
Lithuania has shut the route for basic goods including construction materials, metals and coal, which it says it is required to do under EU sanctions that took effect on Saturday, reports Reuters.
Moscow summoned the EU's ambassador to Russia. Its foreign ministry said Lithuania's actions "violate the relevant legal and political obligations of the European Union".
On the ground, the police chief of the Kyiv region said victims of the Russian attempt to seize the capital city continued to be found. So far, the bodies of 1,333 civilians have been discovered and 300 people still missing.
US Attorney General Merrick Garland was visiting Ukraine to discuss prosecution of individuals involved in war crimes, a Justice Department official said.
EU ministers, meanwhile, backed granting Ukraine "candidate status" to join the bloc, ahead of a summit expected to formally greenlight the move later this week, France's Europe minister Clement Beaune said.
On the maritime front, Russia's navy is blockading ports, which Ukraine says is preventing millions of tonnes of grain from being shipped to world markets, contributing to soaring food prices.
In addition to Toshkivka, Ukraine said it had lost control of the eastern village of Metyolkine which has been a focus of fighting for weeks and is now largely under Russian control, reports AFP.
A chemical plant in Severodonetsk where hundreds of civilians are said to be sheltering was being shelled constantly, Ukraine warned.
But defence ministry spokesman Oleksandr Motuzyanyk told Ukrainian television that Russian forces had suffered "significant losses in the area of Severodonetsk".
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