STRUGGLE
* “Tomorrow is an important day for all of us – unfortunately it is also important for our enemy. We must be aware that disgusting Russian provocations and brutal attacks are possible tomorrow, “President Zelenskiy said in his evening video speech, anticipating the 31st anniversary of Ukraine’s independence from the Soviet government on Wednesday.
* The capital of Ukraine, Kiev, has banned public celebrations to commemorate Independence Day. Kharkiv and Mykolaiv have also imposed restrictions.
* Zelenskiy said Ukraine will retake its annexed Crimean peninsula from Russia by whatever means it deems appropriate and will not consult other countries before doing so.
* Russian air defenses shot down an unknown number of Ukrainian drones near the Crimean city of Sevastopol on Tuesday evening, Governor Mikhail Razvozhayev said in a statement.
Reuters could not confirm reports from the battlefield.
Ammunition stored in southern Russia near the Ukrainian border caught fire on Tuesday, the second such incident in a week, with a local official saying high temperatures were to blame.
* The United States will announce a new security assistance package for Ukraine of around $ 3 billion (AU $ 4.3 billion) as early as Wednesday, an official said, in what would be the largest slice in Kiev. since the invasion of Russia six months ago. .
* Russian politicians greet Darya Dugina, the daughter of one of Russia’s most prominent nationalist ideologues, during a Tuesday funeral service, hailing her as a martyr whose death must inspire Russian forces fighting in Ukraine.
* The UN nuclear control body will visit the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in Ukraine within days if talks to gain access are successful, it said Tuesday.
* A total of 33 merchant ships carrying around 719,549 tons of food have left Ukraine as part of a UN-brokered deal with Turkey to unblock Ukrainian seaports, the Ukrainian Ministry of Health said Tuesday. Agriculture.
QUOTATION
“Probably no one has done more to unite Putin’s Ukraine,” said Yevhen Palamarchuk, 38, a Kiev resident, ahead of Wednesday’s Independence Day. “We have always had internal tensions in the country but since 2014, and especially since February, we are more united than ever”.