Chris Lange, FISM News
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Kyiv’s city council on Monday began setting up evacuation centers stocked with anti-radiation pills in preparation for a possible nuclear strike on the capital in response to Russia’s repeated threats to use nuclear weapons following a string of humiliating defeats.
Potassium iodide pills will be distributed to residents in areas contaminated by nuclear radiation if there is a need to evacuate, the city council said in a statement, the Associated Press reported.
Elsewhere, Ukrainians in Lyman who survived months of occupation emerged from basements and bunkers onto the city’s streets where Russian bodies lay scattered. Ukrainian troops stepped over the Russians to collect bodies of their own comrades slain in the fierce battle over the strategic logistics and transport hub in Ukraine’s east.
“We fight for our land, for our children, so that our people can live better, but all this comes at a very high price,” a Ukrainian soldier told the news service.
Ukraine’s successful liberation of the key city over the weekend has given Kyiv forces a pathway to press their offensive deeper into Russian-held territories on the heels of the Kremlin’s annexation of Ukrainian regions in the east and south. The Washington-based Institute for the Study of War said in its latest report that Ukrainian forces were pushing further east, possibly as far as the border of the Luhansk region, and advancing toward Kreminna.
Ukrainian soldiers in the south on Monday hoisted flags above the villages of Arkhanhelske, Khreshchenivka, Mykhalivka, Myroliubivka, and Novovorontsovka.
Elsewhere, Russian forces launched missile strikes throughout Ukraine on Tuesday, including several in Kharkiv, damaging infrastructure and causing power outages. One person was killed and at least two others, including a nine-year-old girl, sustained wounds, according to Kharkiv Gov. Oleh Syniehubov.
Elon Musk sparks backlash over tweet proposing Russia-Ukraine compromise
Billionaire Elon Musk sparked a geopolitical firestorm on social media Monday by proposing a compromise between Russia and Ukraine to end the war. The tech mogul tweeted out a “yes, no” survey listing possible peace terms that included a suggestion that Ukraine cedes Kremlin-annexed Crimea fully to Russia. Musk pointed out that Crimea was given to Ukraine as a “gift” by the late Soviet premier Nikita Khrushchev in 1954, though the “gift” was widely viewed as an attempt to consolidate Soviet control over Ukraine.
Musk further proposed a “redo” of “elections of annexed regions under UN supervision.”
“Russia leaves if that is [the] will of the people,” he wrote.
The post prompted immediate backlash from Twitter users.
“F— off is my very diplomatic reply,” wrote Ukrainian diplomat Andrij Melnyk.
“This is highly likely to be the outcome in the end – just a question of how many die before then,” the Tesla CEO said in a second tweet posted less than 10 minutes later.
The Kremlin praised Musk’s suggestions.
“It is very positive that somebody like Elon Musk is looking for a peaceful way out of this situation,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters in a conference call, Reuters reported.
“Compared to many professional diplomats, Musk is still searching for ways to achieve peace. And achieving peace without fulfilling Russia’s conditions is absolutely impossible,” he added.
Prior to Musk’s controversial foray into armchair diplomacy, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy personally thanked him for sending Starlink satellite systems to Ukraine shortly after Russia’s invasion.
“Talked to @elonmusk. I’m grateful to him for supporting Ukraine with words and deeds,” Zelenskyy tweeted in March, also hinting at a future collaboration.
“Discussed possible space projects. But I’ll talk about this after the war,” the leader added.