Geopolitical situation
After terrorist Russia convened a UN ministerial meeting on "multilateralism", i.e. when countries cooperate to increase their effectiveness in defending the UN Charter, Russia's Foreign Minister for Terrorism, Sergei Lavrov, himself, appeared before the Security Council yesterday. He described the meeting as the culmination of Russia's month-long presidency of the Security Council.
Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called cooperation between the 193 UN member states the "beating heart" and "core vision" of the organisation, and warned the Security Council that global cooperation is under the greatest strain since the United Nations was founded on the ashes of World War II in 1945. Tensions between great powers are "historically high", creating a risk of conflict "by accident or miscalculation", he said, referring in particular to the war in Ukraine.
US ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield called Russia "a hypocritical convener of the meeting" whose "illegal, unprovoked and unnecessary" war in Ukraine "strikes at the very heart of the UN Charter and everything we hold dear".
Barbara Woodward, British Ambassador to the United Nations, said the world had seen "what Russia's idea of multilateralism means to the world" - a violation of the UN Charter and a war that has brought unimaginable suffering to Ukraine and has been "a complete catastrophe for Russia as well".
The 27-member European Union called Russia's attempt to portray itself as a defender of the UN Charter and multilateralism as "cynical", saying it "despises" not only the UN Charter but also the UN General Assembly resolutions calling for the withdrawal of Russian forces.
However, Lavrov mocked the audience from the UNSC President's chair, saying that Ukraine was promoting "Nazi customs" and "banning Russian language and culture". He criticised the activities of NATO members in the Western Pacific, in particular the alliance between Australia, the UK and the US, as well as the US's growing ties with Japan, South Korea and several South-East Asian countries. The representative of the terrorist country resented NATO's plans to expand into Ukraine, thus once again spitting on the UN Charter's principles of independent countries choosing their own foreign policy and demonstrating once again that the Kremlin has the right to decide for other countries.
A pathetic circus involving the members of an inept, meaningless organisation - the UN.
Significant advances
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, speaking to Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas on Monday in the north-western town of Zhytomyr, about 100 kilometres west of Kyiv, praised the Baltic country for its decision to hand over to Ukraine all of its 122 and 155 mm howitzers. "If each of the leaders and each of the states were to protect our common continental freedom with the same integrity, Russian aggression would already know its obvious defeats," said Mr Zelensky.
Meanwhile, Russian forces continued their almost nine-month-long efforts to capture the Ukrainian stronghold of Bakhmut in the eastern Donetsk region. In an interview with The Associated Press news agency last month, Mr Zelensky stressed the importance of the defence of Bakhmut, saying that its collapse would force Kyiv to make unacceptable compromises.
Both Ukraine and Russia have described the fighting for Bakhmut, the longest battle of the war, as crucial because it helps to exhaust the enemy forces and prevents them from continuing their attacks on other parts of the 1 000 km long front line.
Yesterday, apartment thief and recidivist Yevgeny Prigozhin, the alleged owner of the military company Wagner Group, claimed that Ukrainian forces had been pushed back to the western part of the city by two square kilometres. It is not clear whether this is true, but it is likely that the Ukrainian defenders have crossed the railway tracks to the west and have completely lost control of the ruins of the city.
Putin's chef predicted that Ukraine would probably launch a counter-offensive in the next couple of weeks, when the ground has dried out enough to allow tanks and other heavy equipment to move freely on the roads.
Meanwhile, Major General Kyrylo Budanov, the head of Ukrainian military intelligence, in an interview with RBC-Ukraine, described the planned counter-offensive as "an important battle in Ukraine's modern history", during which the country will "regain significant territories". "Everybody understands that we are getting close to that", he said.
Russian military propaganda blogs have speculated that Ukraine's counter-offensive could be accompanied by a series of drone strikes over wide areas.
Briefly
Ukraine's presidential office said on Monday that at least four civilians had been killed and 13 wounded in recent Russian airstrikes over the previous day. Two people were killed in Bakhmut and another two in the southern city of Kherson.
The Chinese government said on Monday that it respects the sovereignty of the former Soviet republics. The announcement follows the turmoil caused by Beijing's ambassador to France in Europe when he claimed that the Baltic States are not sovereign states. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning, commenting on the report, said Beijing's position is "consistent and clear", but did not specify whether Lu's comment was considered incorrect.
Ukraine is approaching an "all-for-all" prisoner swap with Russia. Such a case would be unprecedented in world history.
In a joint statement by their Prime Ministers, Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovakia advocated security guarantees for Ukraine even before NATO membership.
Commenting on Western media reports about Ukraine's alleged plans for a "1-year anniversary invasion of Moscow", Mr Podoliak said that such publications, with reference to "anonymous sources", serve only one disastrous function: they shape public opinion in Western capitals, as if Ukraine were an irrational, infantile and impulsive country, which is too dangerous to be entrusted with serious weapons.
The Czech Republic has handed over 12 more T-72M4 CZ tanks to Ukraine, bringing the total number of heavy weapons of this type sent to Ukraine to more than 50.
The drone that crashed near Moscow yesterday was most likely a Ukrainian-made UJ-22 Airborne. The drone crashed after running out of fuel or hitting a tree and contained 17 kilograms of explosives. The UJ-22 is a small reconnaissance drone capable of carrying around 20 kilograms of explosives and can cover a range of 800 kilometres.
Lithuania
At least part of our country is definitely holding its breath for the finish of Aurimas Valujavičius' row across the Atlantic Ocean. After several delays, he is expected to reach the shores of Florida this evening Lithuanian time. He will finish between 6 and 7 pm - around noon or slightly earlier US East Coast time.
The rower was forced to spend another night in the ocean, this time just a few hours off the coast of Florida, because he was unable to find a port that could quickly accommodate not only his boat but also a group of Lithuanians wanting to meet him, which would have required a permit.
We are happy, congratulate and embrace all the brave men and women who are making Lithuania's name famous and bringing light to the world in the best way they know how.
Photo: front line.
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