About 5,000 Ukrainians and about 1,700 foreign students were evacuated from Sumy to Poltava on Wednesday night, according to a statement from the Ukrainian authorities.
Authorities said the evacuation went according to plan. Sumy is located about 30 kilometers from the border with Russia. Russian forces have been attacking the city for several days.
New ceasefire
Russia announced Tuesday night that there will be a new ceasefire and safe routes for civilians from several Ukrainian cities, including Kyiv and Mariupol. The cease-fire went into effect at 8 pm Norwegian time on Wednesday and will last for 12 hours.
The mayor of Sumy, Oleksandr Lysenko, said that civilians are starting to leave the city in private cars.
Several previous attempts to evacuate civilians, including from the port city of Mariupol, failed as a result of the ceasefire breach.
According to the United Nations, 2 million people have so far fled Ukraine, in what is the fastest growing refugee crisis since World War II.
Ukrainian roses for air defense
The plane alert went off in addition to Poltava in the capital, Kyiv, and in the cities of Chermehiv, Lubny and Vasilkiev, reports said. BBC Wednesday morning. After the plane alarm went off, the Ukrainian national anthem faded into the empty streets of the capital. The BBC also reported that some journalists heard several explosions in and around Kyiv.
A soldier guards the barricades in Kyiv.
Photo: Reuters
In its latest update, British intelligence reported heavy fighting northwest of Kyiv. At the same time, they state that this did not lead to any penetration of Russian forces.
The cities of Kharkiv, Chernihiv, Sumy and Mariupol are completely surrounded by Russian forces and are reportedly under heavy artillery attacks.
Source: Institute for the Study of War / Rochan Consulting / NRK
The United States sends air defense systems
It became clear Wednesday morning that the United States was skeptical about allowing Polish fighter planes to take off from a base in Germany, as it feared being drawn into war.
At the same time, the United States decided to send two Patriot anti-aircraft missile systems to Poland. The goal is to protect NATO allies during the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine, and the systems should in no way be used aggressively, according to the US.
This is a precautionary measure for defensive use and underscores our commitment to Article 5, and should in no way support offensive operations, said a statement from U.S. Command spokesman Adam Miller. Reference was made to Article 5 of NATO, which states that an attack on one member state is an attack on all NATO members.
“Every step we take is aimed at deterring attacks and reassuring our allies,” he told CNN.
The Patriot is an anti-aircraft missile system that can shoot down and destroy incoming short-range missiles, advanced aircraft and cruise missiles.
The Netherlands announced, on Tuesday, that the country, in cooperation with Germany, will deploy Patriot missiles in Slovakia, at the request of NATO. The purpose is to strengthen the eastern flank of NATO.
Quoted from Churchill
On Tuesday evening, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky delivered a powerful speech to the lower house of the British Parliament from his office in Kyiv. He quoted, among other things, a speech given by Winston Churchill during World War II, to great applause from the representatives. Russia warned as follows.
“We will fight in the forests, in the fields, on the beaches and in the streets.”
Zelensky delivered a fiery speech before the British Parliament.
Photo: Agence France-Presse
As Zelensky said: “We don’t want to lose our country, just as you didn’t want to lose your country to the Nazis, you had to fight for Britain.”
“We don’t want this war,” Zelensky said.
Zelensky went through all the days of the war day in and day out in his speech. She made a strong impression on the British.
– We don’t want to lose. We will fight to the end. “We ask for their help and that of civilized countries,” Zelensky said in a speech to the British Parliament.
We will not give up – that’s what Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said when he addressed the British House of Commons today. In his speech, he demanded tougher sanctions against Russia.
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