Ukraine Says Extension Of Grain Import Ban By Five EU Countries Violates ‘Solidarity’

Russia struck Ukraine’s eastern region of Poltava overnight, causing deaths and damage, regional authorities reported on August 28, as Kyiv confirmed the liberation of the southeastern village of Robotyne and said it was making further advances in the Zaporizhzhya region.

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“As a result of the enemy attack, two people died, two people were taken to the hospital with minor injuries, and two more are missing,” regional Governor Dmytro Lunin said on Telegram, adding that an industrial facility was also destroyed in the attack.

In the Dnipropetrovsk region, an overnight Russian missile strike destroyed two houses in the city of Kryviy Rih, regional Governor Serhiy Lysak reported on August 28.

Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Malyar in a post on Telegram confirmed that Robotyne, which sits along an important road leading from the town of Orikhiv to Tokmak on the way to the strategic southern city of Melitopol, had been liberated.

The Ukrainian Army last week announced that it had raised the national flag in Robotyne and was evacuating civilians, as mopping-up operations were still under way.

“The defense forces of Ukraine were successful in the southeastern settlement of Robotyne,” Malyar wrote. “Our forces are advancing southeast of Robotyne and south of Mala Tokmachka in the Zaporizhzhya region.”

Earlier, the Ukrainian military said on August 28 that its forces were pressing their offensive toward Melitopol.

Melitopol, in the Zaporizhzhya region, is a vital transit hub for Russian forces and a key link in its so-called “land bridge” between Russian-occupied Crimea and the parts of eastern Ukraine occupied by Russia.

Ukraine’s forces have fought 34 combat clashes over the past day, the General Staff said in its regular morning report on August 28.

In Russia, authorities said that drones were shot down in one of the districts of Moscow and in the western Bryansk region overnight on August 28.

Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said a drone was destroyed in the Lyubertsy district of the capital, and there were no damages or casualties.

Two Moscow airports, Domodedovo and Vnukovo, suspended operations for about an hour, Sobyanin added. The Russian Defense Ministry said air-defense forces shot down two drones over the Bryansk region at night. No damage or casualties were reported.

WATCH: A Ukrainian anti-tank unit has been on the hunt for Russian armor using the Stuhna guided-rocket system to destroy military vehicles worth millions of dollars. According to Ukraine, Russia has lost over 4,000 tanks and 8,000 armed personnel carriers during the full-scale invasion.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on August 27 that he expected “a powerful September for Ukraine,” including key decisions from Western allies regarding the provision of important weapons and equipment.

Writing on Telegram on August 27, Zelenskiy said he expected “new defense packages for Ukrainian soldiers” in the coming weeks.

“Artillery, armored vehicles, air-defense systems and missiles, demining equipment,” he wrote. “Our partners have been informed about our needs. We are expecting decisions.”

“A united world is stronger than any aggressor,” he concluded. “In September, there will be more unity.”

Also on August 27, the regional military administration in Kherson said the Russian military attacked central Kherson, killing one woman and wounding a man.

With reporting by Reuters and AFP