Russia said eyeing eastern Ukraine push; Kiev targets graft

Russia is mustering its military might in the Luhansk region of Ukraine, officials said Wednesday, in what Kiev suspects is preparation for an offensive as the first anniversary of Moscow's invasion approaches.

Also Wednesday, President Volodymyr Zelensky's government continued its crackdown on alleged corruption with the dismissal of several high-ranking officials, prominent lawmaker David Arakhamia said.

Zelensky was elected in 2019 on an anti-establishment and anti-corruption platform in a country long gripped by graft. The latest allegations come as Western allies are channeling billions of dollars to help Kiev fight Moscow and as the Ukrainian government is introducing reforms so it can potentially join the European Union one day.

Ukraine's Security Service said on the Telegram messaging app that an operation on Wednesday targeted "corrupt officials who undermine the country's economy and the stable functioning of the defense-industrial complex." It identified one as a former Defense Ministry official accused of embezzling state funds through the purchase of nearly 3,000 bulletproof vests that would inadequately protect Ukrainian soldiers.

Summing up the day's focus on fighting corruption, Zelensky declared in his nightly video address Wednesday: "We will not allow anyone to weaken our state."

On the battlefront, a Russian missile destroyed an apartment building and damaged seven others in the eastern Donetsk provincial city of Kramatorsk late Wednesday, killing at least three people and wounding at least 20, police said. Rescuers were searching the rubble for other victims. Russia has frequently attacked apartment buildings during the war, causing civilian casualties, although the Kremlin often denies such reports.

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