Russia takes control of “Shumi” and is close to achieving its most prominent goal

Yesterday, Saturday, Russia announced control of a town near the city of Turtsk in eastern Ukraine, and shot down a MiG-29 fighter belonging to the Ukrainian Air Force, while an attack by a Ukrainian march targeting a Russian village adjacent to Ukraine claimed the lives of five people, including two children, according to what was announced. Governor of the Russian Kursk region, while Russia and Ukraine announced yesterday, Saturday, that they had carried out a prisoner exchange that included many priests, after exchanging dozens of soldiers earlier this week.

“Thanks to successful operations, units of the Central Group of Troops liberated the town of Shumi,” the Russian Defense Ministry’s daily report said.

This small town is located near the city of Toretsk, which is a major dam on this line of the front. The fall of this city into Russian hands would open the way for them to Kostyantynivka and then Kramatorsk, the most prominent target of the Russian army in this region.

Residents of Turetsk reported in statements to Agence France-Presse this week about dozens of bombing operations carried out by Russia daily, the number of which has increased since the beginning of June. The authorities called on residents to evacuate their homes.

The Russian Defense Ministry statement added that Russian forces destroyed two S-300 air defense systems belonging to Ukrainian forces.

The Russian “West” forces group reinforced its positions and targeted 7 Ukrainian brigades.

This comes as a Ukrainian drone attack targeting a Russian village bordering Ukraine killed five people, including two children, the governor of Russia’s Kursk region announced on Saturday.

“Five people, including two children, were killed. Two other family members were seriously injured,” Alexei Smirnov said on Telegram.

The drone hit a house in the small village of Gorodishche in the Kursk region, a few metres from the border with Ukraine.

The governor added that the attack was carried out by a helicopter, a small vehicle that can carry hand grenades or other explosives to be dropped on targets.

The Kursk region, which was attacked on Saturday, is located to the north opposite the Ukrainian Sumy region, which is controlled by Kiev.

For his part, the governor of the city of Sevastopol in the Crimean Peninsula, Mikhail Razvozhayev, announced that three people were injured by shrapnel as a result of a missile attack on the city yesterday, Saturday.

Razvogayev wrote on Telegram yesterday: “The missile attack was repelled, and according to preliminary data, three civilians were injured by the missile attack with mild shrapnel, and they are currently being transferred to the hospital.”

Earlier yesterday, Razvogayev confirmed the destruction of two air targets over the waters of Sevastopol, noting that the fragments fell in the coastal area and Balaklava area in Sevastopol.

Meanwhile, Russia and Ukraine announced on Saturday that they had carried out a prisoner exchange that included several priests, after exchanging dozens of soldiers earlier this week.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said two Ukrainian Roman Catholic priests, who had been held in the Moscow-occupied city of Berdyansk, had been handed over to Kiev thanks to Vatican mediation.

Zelensky said: “Bogdan Gilita and Ivan Levitsky were preaching the word of God in the parish of the Nativity of the Virgin Mary of the Ukrainian Roman Catholic Church.”

He pointed out that Russia detained the two priests in November 2022.

For its part, Russia reported that it had received a Ukrainian Orthodox clergy official, Bishop Jonavan, in addition to two priests.

The aforementioned bishop was sentenced in August 2023 to five years in prison for defending the Russian invasion.

The Ukrainian Orthodox Church, which is close to the Moscow Patriarchate, is under pressure from the authorities, even though it severed its relations with Moscow after the invasion began.

On the Russian side, Patriarch Kirill justified the attack launched by Moscow, stressing his support for the Kremlin.