Ukraine steps up drive to retake Russian-controlled south with air strikes; Amid brutal Russian occupation, Kherson’s resistance continues through boycott, guerilla operations; Britain says Ukraine’s counterattack in Kherson gains momentum; Russia using mass deportations to depopulate Ukraine, LIVE UPDATES and MORE

By admin On Jul 29, 2022

Ukraine steps up drive to retake Russian-controlled south with air strikes:

Ukraine stepped up its drive to retake its Russian-controlled south by trying to bomb and isolate Russian troops in hard-to-resupply areas, but it said on Thursday it saw evidence that Moscow was redeploying its forces to defend the territory.

In messages to mark the annual Day of Ukrainian Statehood, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy congratulated Ukrainians and sounded defiant.

“We will not give up. We will not be intimidated. Ukraine is an independent, free, indivisible state. And it will always be so,” he wrote on Telegram.

After Russia and Ukraine struck a deal last week to unblock grain exports from Black Sea ports, U.N. aid chief Martin Griffiths said he was hopeful the first shipment of grain from a Ukrainian Black Sea port could take place as early as Friday.

He said “crucial” details for the safe passage of vessels were still being worked out, however, adding that “the devil was in the details”. read more

Allowing safe passage for grain shipments from Ukrainian ports should ease shortages that have left tens of millions of people around the world facing soaring food prices and hunger.

Ukraine said on Thursday its planes had struck five Russian strongholds around the city of Kherson and another nearby city. —>READ MORE HERE

Amid brutal Russian occupation, Kherson’s resistance continues through boycott, guerilla operations:

One morning in early March, Iryna, 33, was frantically going through her closet looking for comfortable shoes. She knew she would have to walk to her destination since public transport had stopped running in the Russian-occupied city of Kherson.

But she was also in a hurry. She was heading to a rally against the forced Russian regime and she couldn’t risk being late because of possible searches and interrogations.

Running out of time, she opted for heeled boots that she often wore to work, a school where she taught Ukrainian language and literature. Before leaving the apartment, she grabbed a Ukrainian flag from the shelf, folded it in half, and hid it under her coat.

After almost an hour of walking, she finally got to Kherson’s center, where thousands of residents gathered to participate in a peaceful protest. Iryna unfurled the flag and raised it above her head — she wanted the occupiers to see it and know they were not welcome.

“In the early days of occupation, I had no fear, no self-preservation instinct even,” Iryna, whose name has been changed due to security reasons, recalls now. “My anger left no room for it.

Russian tanks rolled into Kherson, a regional capital in southern Ukraine, as well as neighboring towns and villages, from occupied Crimea in early March, about a week after the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion on Feb. 24. Kherson Mayor Ihor Kolykhaiev then said that about 300 civilians and soldiers were killed during the days of intense fighting.