Moscow’s goal is to oust Ukraine’s president, Russian foreign minister says

Russia seems to have reversed itself after the nation’s high diplomat stated Moscow’s overarching objective is to topple the federal government of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy as Russian artillery barrages and airstrikes proceed to pummel cities throughout Ukraine.

The comment from Russian Overseas Minister Sergei Lavrov comes amid Ukraine’s efforts to renew grain exports from its Black Sea ports, one thing that will assist ease world meals shortages, below a brand new deal examined by a Russian strike on Odesa over the weekend.

Chatting with envoys at an Arab League summit in Cairo late Sunday, Lavrov stated Moscow is decided to assist Ukrainians “liberate themselves from the burden of this positively unacceptable regime.”

Lavrov accused Kyiv and “its Western allies” of spouting propaganda supposed to make sure that Ukraine “turns into the everlasting enemy of Russia.”

“Russian and Ukrainian folks would proceed to dwell collectively, we will definitely assist Ukrainian folks to eliminate the regime, which is completely anti-people and anti-historical,” he stated.

Lavrov’s remarks contrasted sharply with the Kremlin’s line early within the conflict, when Russian officers repeatedly emphasised that they weren’t searching for to overthrow Zelenskyy’s authorities.

Lavrov argued that Russia was prepared to barter a deal to finish hostilities in March when Ukraine modified tack and declared its intention to rout Russia on the battlefield, including that the West has inspired Ukraine to maintain preventing.

“The West insists that Ukraine should not begin negotiations till Russia is defeated on the battlefield,” Lavrov stated.

Kremlin insists Odesa strike will not have an effect on grain

It was not but clear when grain shipments would resume following Russia and Ukraine signing equivalent agreements with the United Nations and Turkey on Friday in Istanbul. The offers are geared toward clearing the best way for the cargo of tens of millions of tonnes of desperately wanted Ukrainian grain, in addition to the export of Russian grain and fertilizer.

The Kremlin insisted Monday that the assault on the port of Odesa over the weekend focused navy property and wouldn’t have an effect on grain delivery.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov instructed reporters that the strike needed to do “completely with the navy infrastructure.”

“That is on no account associated to the infrastructure concerned in fulfilling the agreements and exporting grain. So this will’t and should not have an effect on the beginning of the cargo course of in any manner,” Peskov stated.

The Kremlin spokesperson additionally stated that Moscow has little interest in halting all fuel provides to Europe and that current restrictions on the move of Russian fuel to European international locations “are merely the implications of restrictions the Europeans have imposed, and the Europeans themselves are affected by these restrictions.”

“Russia is a accountable fuel provider, and it doesn’t matter what anybody says, the European Fee, in European capitals, within the U.S., Russia has been and continues to be a rustic that to a big extent ensures Europe’s vitality safety,” Peskov stated.

Russian shelling continues in east, south

In the meantime, Ukraine’s presidential workplace stated Monday that at the least two civilians have been killed and one other 10 have been wounded within the newest Russian shelling over the past 24 hours.

Within the japanese Donetsk area, the main target of the Russian offensive, Russian artillery struck Avdiivka, Kramatorsk and Kostiantynivka. An airstrike on Bakhmut broken at the least 5 homes.

“The Russians are utilizing the scorched earth ways throughout all the Donbas, they fireplace from the bottom and from the air to wipe off total cities,” Donetsk Gov. Pavlo Kyrylenko stated in televised remarks.

The Russians additionally struck the Kharkiv area. Within the metropolis of Chuhuiv, a Russian strike ruined the constructing of a neighborhood membership and rescue staff eliminated a number of folks from below the particles.

Kharkiv Gov. Oleh Sinyehubov denounced the assault as “mindless barbarity,” saying that “it appears like a lethal lottery when nobody is aware of the place the subsequent strike will come and all the area is harmful for dwelling.”

Within the Dnipro area, a 10-year-old woman was wounded by shelling, and a seven-year-old baby was wounded within the Russian shelling of the Mykolaiv area.

In different developments, Russia’s high home safety company stated Monday it has thwarted an try by the Ukrainian navy intelligence to entice Russian navy pilots to give up their fight jets to Ukraine.

The Federal Safety Service (FSB), the KGB’s successor company, stated Monday that Ukrainians supplied Russian pilots money and European Union citizenship to steer them to hijack their warplanes. In a video launched by the FSB, a person, presupposed to be a Ukrainian intelligence officer, is providing to pay a potential defector pilot $2 million if he would give up his aircraft throughout a fight mission over Ukraine.

Russian state tv claimed that Western spy businesses assisted the Ukrainians within the effort. The Russian claims could not be independently verified.