UPDATED. Meanwhile, Ukraine acknowledges it would be a 'very difficult path' to victory but Ukrainians must maintain their resolve and inflict losses on the 'aggressor'.
At least three people were killed and dozens of homes damaged in the Russian city of Belgorod near the Ukraine border, the regional governor said on Sunday, July 3, as Kyiv acknowledged it could lose its last big bastion in eastern Ukraine to Kremlin forces.
“The death of civilians and the destruction of civilian infrastructure in Belgorod are a direct act of aggression on the part of Ukraine and require the most severe – including a military – response,” Klishas wrote on Telegram.Russia’s February 24 invasion Russia is focussed on driving Ukrainian forces out of Luhansk and Donetsk provinces in the Donbas, where Moscow-backed separatists have been fighting Kyiv since Russia’s first military intervention in Ukraine in 2014.
Russian media showed video of Luhansk militia parading in Lysychansk streets waving flags and cheering, but Ukraine National Guard spokesman Ruslan Muzychuk told Ukrainian television the city remained in Ukrainian hands. He added: “The more Western weapons come to the front, the more the picture changes in favor of Ukraine.” Ukraine has repeatedly appealed for more weapons from the West, saying its forces are heavily outgunned.‘Very difficult path’