Ukraine’s military repelled over 92 Russian assaults in five areas over the past day, the General Staff of Ukraine’s Armed Forces claimed in its morning briefing on March 12, by reports.
According to the General Staff report, Russian forces are concentrating their efforts on conducting offensives toward Lyman, Bakhmut, Avdiivka, Mariinka, and Shakhtarsk in Donetsk Oblast.
Over the past 24 hours, Russia launched five missiles, targeting the city of Zaporizhzhia, 12 airstrikes, and 56 MLRS attacks against Ukraine, targeting the city of Kherson, which resulted in civilian casualties, it said.
Ukraine’s Air Force carried out six strikes on temporary Russian bases, while Ukraine’s rocket and artillery forces hit four Russian temporary bases, one ammunition depot and two electronic warfare stations, it added
The Ukrainian military warns about a continued high threat of missile attacks throughout Ukraine.
The head of the Russian Orthodox church has asked Pope Francis and other religious leaders to persuade Ukraine to stop a crackdown against a historically Russian-aligned wing of the church.
Kyiv on Friday ordered the Ukrainian Orthodox church (UOC) to leave a monastery complex where it is based, the latest move against a denomination that the government says is pro-Russian and collaborating with Moscow.
Patriarch Kirill on Saturday urged religious leaders and international organisations to “make every effort to prevent the forced closure of the monastery, which will lead to a violation of the rights of millions of Ukrainian believers”, said a statement posted on the church’s website.
Kirill strongly backed Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The UOC says it has severed its ties with Russia and the Moscow Patriarchate, and is the victim of a political witch-hunt.
Since October, the Security Service of Ukraine has regularly carried out searches at UOC churches, imposed sanctions on its bishops and financial backers, and opened criminal cases against dozens of its clergymen.
Among the many leaders to whom the appeal is addressed are Pope Francis; the archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby; the head of Egypt’s Coptic church, Pope Tawadros; as well as the UN secretary general, Antonio Guterres, and the UN human rights chief, Volker Turk, the church said.
