Ukraine Recap: Outrage Grows Over Pope Speech on Russian Empire

Ukraine’s forces continued to advance around Bakhmut in the east and toward Melitopol, the General Staff said, after Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov said troops had broken through the first line of Russia’s fortifications in the occupied south.

(Bloomberg) — Ukraine’s forces continued to advance around Bakhmut in the east and toward Melitopol, the General Staff said, after Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov said troops had broken through the first line of Russia’s fortifications in the occupied south.

Outrage is growing against against Pope Francis after he told Russians last week to take pride in being “the heirs” of “that great, enlightened Russian empire.” The Foreign Ministry in Kyiv called the speech “sad,” while the head of Ukraine’s Greek Orthodox Church denounced it as an endorsement of Russia’s “nationalism and imperialism that today has caused the war in Ukraine — a war that brings death and destruction to our people every day.”

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said after meeting the chief executive officers of Ukraine’s defense industry that he is pushing for “guns made in Ukraine, projectiles made in Ukraine, drones, missiles, armored vehicles.” He said in his nightly address that “Ukraine can do it,” although he didn’t elaborate.

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