Russia faces a “major challenge” from sanctions denying access to foreign technology, President Vladimir Putin said Monday.
But Putin told his Council for Strategic Development that his country will not “lose heart” or see decades of progress reversed. Putin called for expansion of the technological capacities, research and innovation of Russian companies.
Russia has struggled to keep commercial airplanes maintained, and defense experts say Russia’s military has been forced to use legacy military hardware while trying to replenish its more modern weapons systems.
“Obviously, we cannot develop in isolation from the rest of the world. And we won’t,” Putin said in a report posted in state-run Tass. “It is impossible in the present-day world to merely issue a decree and erect a huge fence. It is simply impossible.”
Latest developments:
►Ukrainian first lady Olena Zelenska will deliver remarks to Congress on Wednesday morning as Zelenska presses her husband’s campaign for more military support from the West, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s office said Monday, according to The Washington Post.
►The Swiss Army says it will offer demining training to Ukrainian experts. Ukrainian authorities already have removed tens of thousands mines and explosive devices, the Geneva demining center said.
►Russian President Vladimir Putin is expected to travel to Iran on Tuesday to shore up support in meetings with Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and Turkeish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
►Sri Lanka’s interim President Ranil Wickremesinghe, citing food shortages and spiraling prices, warned that sanctions could do more damage to the developing world than to Russia.
►Odesa and Alexandria have joined a growing list of Ukrainian cities removing monuments paying homage to the country’s links to Russia. Ukraine declared its independence from the Soviet Union in August 1991.
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Zelenskyy expands security shakeup, suspends 28 more officials amid Russian shelling
Following Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s decision to suspend two top advisors over allegations that their agencies contained “collaborators and traitors,” Zelenskyy said a “personnel audit” of the Security Service of Ukraine was underway during his video address Monday evening.
The dismissal of 28 officials was being decided with Zelenskyy citing “unsatisfactory results of work” as reasons behind the decision.
Russia continues to advance forward with its missile and shelling attacks.
Seven Ukraine regions have suffered attacks in the past 24 hours, according to Zelenskyy’s office. At least six people were killed by Russian shelling Monday in the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine and civilians have been urged to evacuate as the region faces incessant shelling.
Nearly 1,000 civilians were evacuated from Russian-held territories in the northern Kharkiv region to Ukraine on Monday. About a third of the region is under Russian control after troops overran it in April.
Russian family receives car after son killed in Ukraine war
Russian state TV ran a report on a family that received a car after their son was killed in Ukraine, says Francis Scarr, who translates Russian TV for BBC Monitoring. Scarr posted video of the report on Twitter, showing a family with the new, Russian-made Lada car they apparently bought with “coffin money” paid by the state to the families of war victims. The father of the fallen soldier, identified as Alexei, says his son always wanted a white car.
“In memory of our son we bought a nice, new car,” the father says. The clip ends with what is described as the vehicle’s first trip – to the cemetery.
Russian defense minister: Target Western missile systems
Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu visited the Vostok Battalion in Ukraine’s Donbas, instructing the commander to prioritize destruction of Ukraine’s long-range missiles and artillery, the defense ministry said on Telegram. Western weapons systems, including the U.S.-made HIMARS, have allowed Ukraine to target Russian military positions far beyond the front lines, drawing increasing concern from the Kremlin. Russia has been working to strengthen its hold on areas of the Donbas it now controls.
Shoigu instructed units across all operational fronts to “eliminate the possibility for the Kyiv regime to inflict massive missile and artillery strikes” on Russian-held territories, according to EU pledges another $500 million in military aid to Ukraine
European Union foreign ministers met Monday via video teleconference to tighten sanctions on Russia and consider ways to ban gold exports “in hopes that the measures might finally start to have a decisive impact on the war in Ukraine.” The group exchanged views on the Russian aggression with Ukraine’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Dmytro Kuleba – and pledged another $500 million in military aid to Ukraine’s coffers.
EU foreign affairs chief Josep Borrell said that “the most important thing is a ban on Russian gold” which is Moscow’s second-largest export industry after energy.
Contributing: The Associated Press