On the 653rd day of the war, Russian troops continue to attack in the direction of Avdiivka, using mainly aviation and kamikaze drones. Moscow continues to shell the city of Kharkiv, also in eastern Ukraine, where authorities have reported at least one person injured. On the political level, British Foreign Secretary David Cameron asked the US Congress in Washington to approve new aid for Ukraine requested by President Joe Biden, arguing that the value the US is getting from this military “investment” is incredible as the war weakens Russia in the process. .

Basic information about the war in Ukraine, day 653, LIVETEXT:

07:52 Russian forces have relied heavily on airstrikes in their slow-moving campaign to gain control of eastern Ukraine, and have resorted to new, smaller strike groups to press on the besieged town of Avdiyivka.

“For the second day in a row, the occupying forces actively used kamiakadze drones and aviation. And the number of confrontations has increased significantly,” Ukrainian army spokesman Oleksandr Stupun said on national television, The Guardian reports.

07:49 The city of Kharkiv in eastern Ukraine was hit by several Russian rockets, local authorities said overnight, with at least one person injured, AFP and Agerpres reported.

“The occupiers hit Kharkiv six times,” Oleg Sinegubov, head of the regional military administration, wrote in Telegram, indicating that one wounded person had been delivered.

Kholodnohirskyi and Shevchenkivskyi districts were also hit, he added, clarifying that “according to the first information, these were S-300 missiles.”

Residential buildings were damaged, Synegubov said.

The coal mine located in Toretsk in the north of the Donetsk region (east) was attacked on Thursday afternoon, the Ministry of Energy of Ukraine reported. One person was injured and “significant damage” was recorded.

07:15Ukraine said on Thursday that it has started sending trucks by rail to Poland to avoid a month-long blockade of the border by Polish carriers, AFP reports.

A brief summary of recent events:

• How the US will increase the production of weapons in Ukraine. The agreement was signed in Washington
• AFP analysis: How Western military aid to Ukraine threatens political disputes
• David Cameron insists on the continuation of American military aid to Ukraine: “The price-quality ratio is impressive. If that’s not a good investment, I don’t know what is.”
• London and Washington accuse Moscow of trying to interfere in British politics
• Romania joins international efforts to expose and condemn Russia’s attempts to interfere in political and electoral processes in democratic states, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Romania reports. Romania also supports the adoption of the EU declaration on this topic.
• The US Embassy in Bucharest reports that a new high-level meeting on strengthening Ukrainian grain exports was held in Tulchi on Thursday.

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• Thursday’s events related to Russian aggression were broadcast LIVE on HotNews.ro