Under the cut: Putin said Russia would strike new targets if the United States started supplying Ukraine with longer-range missiles; Missiles hit Kyiv on Sunday morning; Ukrainian forces have retaken half of the city of Sievierodonetsk (Russia previously held 70% of the city); Spain is sending weapons and tanks to Ukraine; Britain is sending weapons to Ukraine; Bulgaria, North Macedonia and Montenegro closed their airspace to Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov’s aircraft meant to fly him to visit Serbia, forcing him to cancel his trip ;Ukraine has been knocked out of the FIFA World Cup Finals after losing to Wales.
President Vladimir Putin said Russia would strike new targets if the United States started supplying Ukraine with longer-range missiles, the TASS news agency reported on Sunday.
The TASS news agency reports:
Putin said that if such missiles are supplied, that Russia will strike at those targets which we have not yet been hitting”, in an Rossiya-1 state television channel
Putin did not name the targets Russia planned to pursue if western countries began supplying Ukraine with longer-range missiles.
He said the “fuss” around western weapon supplies to Ukraine was designed to drag out the conflict. Ukraine has been seeking Multiple Rocket Launch Systems (MLRS) such as the M270 and M142 HIMARS to strike troops and weapons stockpiles at the Russian forces’ rear.
“Columns of smoke rise over Kyiv after airstrikes early on Sunday. Missiles hit eastern areas of the Ukrainian capital and injured at least one person, according to the city’s mayor, Vitaly Klitschko. Russia’s defence ministry said the strikes had targeted tanks and other armoured vehicles on the outskirts of the city.”
“Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said one person has been hospitalized after multiple explosions hit the capital on Sunday morning local time.
“In reference to this morning’s explosions in the capital’s Darnytskyi and Dniprovskyi districts, there are currently no casualties from missile strikes on infrastructure. One victim was hospitalized,” Klitschko said on Telegram. He said the city’s services are still operating in the affected areas.
Russia “continues to launch missile and air strikes on military and civilian infrastructure in our country, in particular in Kyiv,” the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine said in a separate update on Sunday.”
“Ukrainian forces have counterattacked and retaken half of the city of Sievierodonetsk in the east of the country, officials said. “It had been a difficult situation, the Russians controlled 70% of the city, but over the past two days they have been pushed back,” Luhansk regional governor Serhiy Gaidai told Ukrainian television. “The city is now, more or less, divided in half.” The Institute for the Study of War, a US thinktank, also said Ukrainian forces were “successfully slowing down Russian operations” in Donbas and were making “effective local counterattacks in Sievierodonetsk”.”
Serhiy Hayday, the head of the Luhansk region military administration, says there is “good news” from the city of Severodonetsk, which has been under Russian bombardment for weeks.
In a post on his Telegram channel, Hayday says: “Our Armed Forces have cleared up half of the city. Half of the city is really controlled by our defenders.” Last week, Hayday said that Russian forces held about 80% of Severodonetsk, but Ukrainian forces have clawed back parts of the city in street fighting since then.
Hayday says he expects Russian forces to redouble their efforts to take the city in the next few days by using heavy artillery.
“They have no other tactics,” he said “They cannot fight in another way.”
Hayday said there are approximately 15,000 civilians still in Severodonetsk. “Now evacuation is impossible because of constant fighting,” he said.
“Even though we officially stopped the evacuation, today, we managed to evacuate 98 people from Lysychansk together with the help of volunteers, the State Emergency Service and the National Police,” he said. Lysychansk is across the Siverskyi Donets river from Severodonetsk and is heavily defended by Ukrainian troops.
“Spain is to supply Ukraine with anti-aircraft missiles and Leopard battle tanks in a step up of its military support to the country, according to government sources cited by newspaper El Pais.Spain will also provide essential training to the Ukrainian military in how to use the tanks, according to the reports as cited by Reuters. Training would take place in Latvia, where the Spanish army has deployed 500 soldiers within the framework of Nato’s Enhanced Advanced Presence operation.A second phase of training could take place in Spain, according to the sources cited by El Pais.The paper said Spain’s defence ministry is finalising a delivery to Kyiv of low-level Shorad Aspide anti-aircraft missiles, which the Spanish army has replaced with a more advanced system.Spain has so far supplied ammunition, individual protection equipment and light weapons.”-via The Guardian
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“Britain is to supply long-range rocket artillery to Ukraine, despite a threat on Sunday from Russia’s president, Vladimir Putin, to bomb fresh targets if similar weapons from the US were delivered to Kyiv.
The UK will send a handful of tracked M270 multiple launch rocket systems, which can hit targets up to 50 miles away, in the hope they can disrupt the concentrated Russian artillery that has been pounding cities in eastern Ukraine.
Ben Wallace, the UK defence secretary, argued the decision to ship the rocket launchers was justified because “as Russia’s tactics change, so must our support to Ukraine”. The move risks further provoking an already irritated Kremlin.”-via The Guardian
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“Bulgaria, North Macedonia and Montenegro closed their airspace to Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov’s aircraft meant to fly him to visit Serbia, leading to the cancellation of the visit, Interfax news agency reported on Sunday.
The Serbian daily Danas cited state officials as saying the three Baltic countries banned Lavrov’s flight to Belgrade for his state visit scheduled for June 6-7.
Danas reported that the Serbian Prime Minister Ana Brnabic stated on Sunday that the situation around the arrival of Lavrov in Belgrade is “extremely complicated” and that President Aleksandar Vucic, is dealing with the logistics of his trip.”-via Alarabiya News
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“Wales’ men’s soccer team defeated Ukraine 1-0 on Sunday to secure a berth in the 2022 FIFA World Cup.
Ukraine thought they had begun the game in perfect fashion as Oleksandr Zinchenko took a free-kick quickly after 3 minutes and found the back of the net — only for Spanish referee Antonio Mateu Lahoz to disallow the goal as the Manchester City player took the set piece before the whistle was blown.
Ukraine continued to dominate the early exchanges but were unable to capitalize, with Welsh goalkeeper Wayne Hennessey making a string of excellent saves. In the 34th minute, Gareth Bale’s free kick deflected off the head of Andriy Yarmolenko and into the goal to give Rob Page’s team the lead, which they took into the half-time break.
Both teams had good chances in the second half - Aaron Ramsey missing for Wales and Roman Yaremchuk for the visitors. In the end, one goal was enough for Wales to seal their spot at the forthcoming tournament.
As had been the case in Ukraine’s semifinal victory against Scotland last Wednesday, the build-up to the match was an emotional affair. Players and fans again sang the national anthem pridefully in unison as yellow and blue flags dominated the Cardiff City Stadium in Wales.
The Welsh FA handed out 100 tickets to Ukrainian refugees living in the area before the match as a gesture of solidarity. Ukraine manager Oleksandr Petrakov revealed on Saturday that the team had received a flag from their home country which they had hung in the dressing room.”-via CNN
Internet, YouTube, Tumblr, computers: it makes it easier for creative people to make something and find an audience. Like this song: it’s in Aromanian, a rare Romance language linked to Romanian, made by Stelu Enache and Ovidiu Lipan Tandarica. We love the sound, the video, the language.
It’s summer. Trece viata, Treați bana. Like this song.
Our last few days in Macedonia were spent enveloped in a freezing fog which shrouded our view and promised snow which never came. We woke up daily to frost inside the windscreen and icicles hanging off our van. The fog wrapped itself around every plant, every rock and every being, leaving each wrapped in thick kisses of ice, turning the entire landscape silver and white without a snowflake ever falling from the sky.
We were camped up on the peaceful shores of Lake Prespa, undisturbed by anyone, wrapped up in thick layers of blankets against the minus temperatures outdoors.
Truthfully, the Macedonians were used to colder climates this time of year, and -7°C at night was the result an unseasonably mild winter; we had returned to the country expecting snow, and we were leaving disappointed on that front.
But we were leaving confident that we had made the right decision to return; after cutting our time here short to leave for Greece in December we’d been aching to explore more of the country, and we’d been fortunate enough to enjoy an extra two weeks here getting to know the southern regions and the Macedonian way of life.
We’d met some lovely people, experienced welcoming in the Orthodox New Year with rakija and fireworks, witnessed the crazy tradition of jumping into ice cold water on Epiphany Day, sampled delicious food and learned so much about a country that had never even been on our radar.
That morning we left for Albania with conflict in our hearts; we were leaving for a country we’d long since fallen in love with, but we were leaving behind a blossoming romance with a land that had stolen our hearts and captured our souls.
Truthfully we loved the entirety of the Balkans, but we had found a special place in the very heart of the Balkan Peninsula, and when our trip was finally over Macedonia was where we’d be yearning to return.
Ever wanted to camp up on your own private island for a few days?
Us too, and although this small patch of land that gradually disappears into a fine point and sinks into Lake Prespa isn’t technically an island it was as close as we would probably get to one in our van.
We were surprised to find a small village at the end of this long and bumpy track, emptied of all its inhabitants for the winter as an icy slush began to fall from the sky. Boats littered the shores of the lake, empty and lifeless without people to navigate them. We were the only forms of life for miles, basking in the peace and solitude we craved.
The really special thing about this place was that it sat on the corner of three countries; behind us was North Macedonia, to the side of us was Albania and in front of us was Greece. The Greek stretch of land was dotted with streetlights at night, the Albanian side had a few but the Macedonian side had none. Moody mountains wrapped in snow clouds dominated the skyline, islands and pelicans punctuated the lake’s glassy surface, and soft drops of ice gently pelted the roof as we sat cosied away inside our van cradling cups of mountain tea.
By morning the snow had cleared, replaced by brilliant sunshine and swirling vapour clouds. It was warm enough in fact for a dip in the lake, its cooling, shallow waters sought after by Macedonians in the summer but unsurprisingly empty during the winter. Still, it was good enough for us whose last shower was too long ago to bear thinking about.
A fishing boat sailed past as we were drying off, then we packed up and moved on in the direction of Lake Ohrid, Prespa’s neighbouring lake. Here we were to watch a hundred people dive into its icy waters for the chance to be the first to catch a cross blessed by a priest and thrown into the waters as part of the Orthodox Epiphany celebrations, with nothing to warm them up afterwards but rakija.
Would you love Macedonia as much as us? We just can’t get enough of the country, and this video is precisely why!
We begin wild camping on the shores of Lake Prespa, sitting on the corner of three countries in one of the most beautiful locations we’ve ever had the privilege to camp.
Then we head off in search of some abandoned buildings and end up at a former Yugoslavian hotel with a dark secret hiding inside.
Finally we meet up with some super hospitable locals and join them for some Orthodox New Years Celebrations in true Balkan style!
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Big thanks to @undyingheads for letting us use their music too, if you haven’t already make sure you check them out
We enjoy pushing our van to its limits, so why not explore some of the most treacherous roads in the mountainous Southern regions of the country of N. Macedonia in this week’s episode of Rusty Roadtrips?
Starting at the top of a hazardous mountain track complete with landslides, snow and ice, we make our way down and head East. We meet a friendly local man who shows us the way to an awesome mountainous area where we camp under the stars with the Greek border and Macedonia’s tallest mountain in sight.
We then head further East, attempting to drive an even more perilous mountain track all in the hope of finding a shortcut to Lake Prespa.
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