Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky dismissed the country's ambassador to India on Saturday as well as several other top foreign envoys, news agency Reuters reported quoting the presidential website. The move came with no explanation. There is no clarity on whether the envoys would be handed other jobs.
Ukraine currently holds questionable relationships with Germany - a country that has been heavily reliant on Russia's oil. The reasons for sacking the envoy to India are not clear yet. India had earlier abstained on UN votes condemning Russia’s invasion.
Russia-Ukraine war update
Earlier, deadly Russian shelling was reported in Ukraine's east and south. The governor of the eastern region of Luhansk, Serhyi Haidai, said Russia launched over 20 artillery, mortar and rocket strikes in the province overnight and its forces were pressing toward the border with the Donetsk region.
“We are trying to contain the Russians' armed formations along the entire front line,” Haidai wrote on Telegram.
Last week, Russia captured the last major stronghold of Ukrainian resistance in Luhansk, the city of Lysychansk. Analysts predicted Moscow's troops likely would take some time to rearm and regroup.
But “so far, there has been no operational pause announced by the enemy. He is still attacking and shelling our lands with the same intensity as before,” Haidai said. In a later post, he claimed the Russian bombardment of Luhansk was suspended because Ukrainian forces had destroyed ammunition depots and barracks used by the Russians.
Ukraine's deputy prime minister, Iryna Vereshchuk, appealed to residents of Russian-held territories in the south to evacuate so the occupying forces could not use them as human shields during a Ukrainian counteroffensive.
(ap inputs)
