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Added on the 03/05/2021 16:17:22 - Copyright : AFP EN
NATO forces cross the Vistula River at Korzeniewo in Poland as part of the US-led defence alliance's Exercise Dragon 24, involving around 4,500 soldiers and almost 1,000 vehicles. Dragon 24 is itself part of Exercise Steadfast Defender 24, NATO's largest military exercise since the Cold War, which is designed to test its defences in the face of Russia's war on Ukraine. IMAGES
Russia is executing soldiers who try to retreat from a bloody new offensive in eastern Ukraine and has suffered "significant" losses of armor and personnel, the White House says. "We have information that the Russian military has been actually executing soldiers who are refusing to follow orders," National Security Council spokesman John Kirby says during a news briefing. SOUNDBITE
Images from the southern Russian city of Rostov-on-Don, where the Wagner mercenary group has taken control of key military sites, show armoured vehicles and Wagner soldiers lining the streets as residents walk around them or watch on in groups. In an earlier televised address, Russian President Vladimir Putin acknowledged a "difficult" situation was unfolding in the city as Wagner leader Yevgeny Prigozhin vowed to oust the Russian military's top brass. IMAGES
A missile strike by Russia overnight hit the city centre of Kharkiv, Ukraine´s second largest city, damaging several buildings and water pipes and leaving a large crater in the road. "There is a school here, offices and residential buildings, but there cannot be military objects here because this is the central part of Kharkiv," says Kharkiv mayor Igor Terekhov. No victims were reported in the aftermath of the strike. IMAGES
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky and Polish Prime minister Mateusz Morawiecki visit a Kyiv hospitals where wounded Ukrainian soldiers are being treated. Volodymyr Zelensky is also seen giving medals and decorations to the combatants and the hospital staff. IMAGES
Images show Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and President of the United States Joe Biden as the latter pays a surprise visit to Kyiv ahead of the first anniversary of Russia's invasion. The two leaders, with air raid sirens sounding in the background, visit the St. Michael's Golden-Domed Monastery in the Ukrainian capital, where they honour the memory of fallen Ukrainian defenders. IMAGES