The Russian military says it used naval-launched Kalibr cruise missiles to destroy four S-300 air defense missile launchers near the city of Dnipro, a few days after Slovakia sent Ukraine an S-300 air defense system in an agreement reached by the United States.
About two dozen Ukrainian troops were also hit by the attack, Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Major General Igor Konashenkov said in a statement on Monday. The statement said Ukraine had received the technology from an unnamed European country. Konashenkov’s claim could not be independently verified.
The Prime Minister of Slovakia issued a statement calling the news that the system had been destroyed for “disinformation”.
Slovakia was able to supply the system because the United States was willing to provide Slovakia with a Patriot battery to replace it, White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said Sunday.
It was unclear whether both sides were referring to the same air strike. The Russians have targeted missile defense systems in three places in recent days.
USA TODAY on Telegram: Sign up for our new war channel between Russia and Ukraine
VISUAL EXPLAIN: Mapping and tracing of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine
Recent developments:
►President Joe Biden is set to speak with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday as he pressures world leaders to take a hard line against Russia’s Ukraine invasion.
“Moscow has appointed a new war commander after a largely unsuccessful six-week battle in Ukraine,” a senior U.S. official said Sunday. According to the official, who is not authorized to be identified and spoke on condition of anonymity, said General Alexander Dvornikov, 60, has a history of brutality against Syrians and other civilians.
Zelenskyy: This week is crucial to Ukraine’s fate
In an evening speech on Sunday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned his nation that the coming week would be as crucial as any in the war, accusing Russia of trying to evade responsibility for war crimes.
“When people lack the courage to admit their mistakes, apologize, adapt to reality and learn, they become monsters,” Zelenskyy said. “And when the world ignores it, the monsters decide that it is the world that has to adapt to them… Ukraine will stop all this.”
Zelenskyy called on Western countries, including Germany, to provide more aid to Ukraine. During talks with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Zelenskyy said he was discussing how to strengthen sanctions against Russia and how to force Moscow to seek peace.
“I am pleased to note that the German position has recently changed in favor of Ukraine. I consider it absolutely logical,” Zelenskyy said.
More Ukraine coverage from USA TODAY
Putin is to meet with the Austrian chancellor
The Austrian Foreign Minister says Chancellor Karl Nehammer is taking “very clear messages of a humanitarian and political nature” to a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow.
Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg said on Monday that Nehammer decided to take the trip after meeting in Kiev on Saturday with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and after contacts with the leaders of Turkey, Germany and the EU.
Schallenberg said ahead of a meeting with his EU colleagues in Luxembourg that “we do not want to leave any chance unused and must seize every opportunity to end the humanitarian hell in Ukraine.”
He added that “any voice that makes it clear to President Putin what reality looks like outside the walls of the Kremlin is not a wasted vote.”
Schallenberg said Nehammer and Putin will meet one-on-one with no media options. He insisted that Austria had done everything possible to ensure that the visit was not abused, “and I think he (Putin) himself should have an interest in someone telling him the truth and really finding out what’s going on outside. . “
– Associated Press
The European Union is considering Ukraine’s membership in a few weeks
Ukraine can become part of the EU in a few weeks, the President of the European Commission said on Sunday.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy signed Ukraine’s application to join the EU in February, and Olga Stefanishyna, Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic integration of Ukraine, said in April that she expects Ukraine to fully join the EU by June.
The process may take years, but European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on Sunday on CNN’s “State of the Union” that Ukraine’s membership can only take weeks to consider.
“Yesterday, someone said to me, ‘You know, when our soldiers die, I want them to know that their children will be free and part of the European Union,'” von der Leyen said. an extraordinary situation where we have to take unusual steps. “
– Celina Tebor
Russia warns of ‘direct military confrontation’ with US
Ukrainian forces are pushing Russian troops back so successfully that the attackers have been forced to regroup, rebuild and refocus, White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said Sunday.
“Russia has changed its behavior in this war,” Sullivan said on CBS News’ Face The Nation. “They have withdrawn. They have withdrawn from significant territory in northern and northeastern Ukraine. The main reason they made these adjustments is that they were beaten by the Ukrainians. “
Sullivan credited the Ukrainian military – and the flow of equipment that the United States and its allies have sent to the besieged country. Russia’s ambassador to the United States, Anatoly Antonov, told Newsweek earlier that the West was provoking Russia.
“We warn that such actions are dangerous,” the broadcast said. “They can lead the United States and the Russian Federation on the path to direct military confrontation.”
Starring: Associated Press