On Friday, the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, warned that Russia would invade other countries if it succeeded in Ukraine. Zelensky quoted the Russian general as he said that Moscow intended to capture all of eastern and southern Ukraine and link it to an independent province in neighboring Moldova. In the Friday evening address, Zelensky said that the Russian invasion of Ukraine was aimed only as a beginning of its aggression.
Zelensky warned that the Russian attack on Ukraine was the beginning & Moscow sought to invade other countries. He requested other nations to fight alongside and said that the countries who wanted to stay neutral were making the riskiest bet because they would lose everything. pic.twitter.com/9PUHqjMW8X
— Live News Now (@LiveNewsNow6) April 23, 2022
Russian state news agencies quoted the deputy commander of the Russian central military district, Rustam Minnekayev, as saying that Russia intended to seize the entire eastern Donbas region of Ukraine because it provides a land passageway to link with the Crimean Peninsula and will help to capture Ukraine’s entire south as far west as a Moscow-occupied separate region of Moldova.
On Friday, Moldova summoned the Russian ambassador to express its deep concern over the general’s remarks. Jalina Porter, the United States Department of State, denied commenting on the statement of the Russian general but vowed that Washington resolutely supported the sovereignty of Moldova. On the other hand, the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense said that the Russian general’s statement revealed that Moscow’s previous claims that it had no territorial goals were false.
The sinking of the Russian Ship
Previously, the Russian President said that Moscow had no planning to occupy Ukrainian cities permanently. In 2014, Russia seized Crimea, but it faced huge criticism from the international community. Ukrainian Defense Ministry tweeted that Russia acknowledged that the aim of the second phase of the war was not victory over the mythological Nazis but simply the occupation of southern and eastern Ukraine.
They are not going to stop. The command of the russian central military district announced the next victim of the russian aggression. After gaining control over the southern Ukraine, russia plans to invade Moldova, where they say russian speakers are being “oppressed.”
— Defence of Ukraine (@DefenceU) April 22, 2022
On Friday, for the first time, the Russian Defense Ministry acknowledged that the missile cruiser Moskva’s crew suffered causalities when it sank. According to the statement of the ministry, one serviceman died, and twenty-seven went missing. The United States and Ukraine claimed that Ukrainian cruise missiles hit the ship. On the other hand, Moscow blamed the ship sinking on a fire. Russia said that they rescued all 396 crew members after the incident.
Defense Secretary to hold Military Meeting
According to the Pentagon Friday statement, Lloyd Austin, the United States Defense Secretary, would hold a meeting with military leaders and defense officials from over twenty countries in Germany next week to discuss the defense needs of Ukraine. Furthermore, John Kirby, the press secretary of the Pentagon, said that they invited around forty countries to the meeting, and they are still receiving responses.
Source: Web
Kirby said that dialogs would be held Tuesday at Ramstein Airbase containing NATO and non-NATO nations. Moreover, on Friday, the Ukrainian president said that allies were finally delivering the weaponry assistance Ukraine sought to defend itself. Yesterday, Canada announced that it donated heavy artillery aid to Ukraine, following Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s promise.
Likewise, on Thursday, the United States President Joe Biden approved an additional $800 million in military aid to Ukraine. He announced that it was necessary to help Ukrainian forces to resist and fight Russian troops in the critical battles unfolding in the country’s eastern region. The United Nations announced Friday that Antonio Guterres, the Secretary-General, will meet Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow on 26th April to discuss the Ukraine conflict.
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