Ukrainian forces claimed on Wednesday that they had reached Russia’s first defensive line on the southern front, as part of the counteroffensive that seeks to reach the coast and isolate the Moscow-occupied Crimean peninsula.
The deputy commander of the Ukrainian forces in the south of the country, Sergei Kuzmin, stressed on Wednesday that his troops advanced several hundred meters near the strategic village of Robotyne, in the heart of the Zaporizhia region.
“We have reached the front line of the occupiers. The first line is very difficult, but our soldiers are advancing,” he guaranteed, according to the newspaper Ukrainska Pravda, quoted by the Efe agency.
Kuzmin stressed that these operations are targeting the city of Melitopol, the capture of which would open the way for the Ukrainians to reach the Azov Sea.
“We are advancing, although that advance is delayed by the minefields and the lack of aviation,” he stressed.
The military also noted that kyiv’s forces are advancing towards the port of Berdyansk, an important region to disrupt the land corridor between Donbass and Crimea.
Another objective is to take control of Energodar, a city close to where the largest nuclear power plant in Europe is located.
Also this Wednesday, the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, assured that “all attention” is focused on the counteroffensive.
Zelensky said, in a message via the Telegram social network, that he discussed the next steps, military reserves and enemy actions in a meeting with the Army’s high command.
The counteroffensive launched on June 4 is allied to good summer weather, but the proximity of the rainy season raises fears that operations will face additional setbacks.
The main adviser to the Ukrainian presidency, Mikhailo Podoliak, defended this Wednesday the advance of the counteroffensive, in the face of the questions and criticisms raised, recalling that before the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the main international powers “hysterically feared” the Russian Armed Forces, and they had no idea that the war could be “fought effectively”.
“Everyone should be patient and closely monitor the high-quality work of the Armed Forces of Ukraine,” Podoliak said via the X social network (formerly Twitter).
Podoliak also stressed that after Ukraine’s successful counteroffensive “Russia will cease to exist as a military threat (…) at least for Ukraine and for Europe.”
On the allied side, Ukraine also received good news, with US President Joe Biden giving the ‘green light’ for the immediate start of training Ukrainian pilots in the use of F-16 fighter jets.
Pentagon spokeswoman Sabrina Singh confirmed the information and added that Denmark and the Netherlands are the countries that have shown the greatest interest in the training.
kyiv argues that the planes are essential to be able to attack the Russian defensive positions, but also the logistics chains in the rear.
On the other hand, the German arms manufacturer Rheinmetall bought 50 Leopard 1 tanks from the Belgian company OIP Land Systems.
The German newspaper Handelsblatt specified that Rheinmetall will repair these battle tanks at its Dusseldorf factory, subsequently delivering 30 of these Leopards to kyiv. The Deutsche Welle agency reported the delivery of 25 tanks.
Regarding the military material already delivered by the West, the newspaper ‘The Wall Street Journal’ highlighted this Wednesday that the US cluster bombs, which arrived in Ukraine in mid-July, are playing a key role in the counteroffensive.
Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu accused Washington on Wednesday of committing a “war crime” by handing over banned weapons.
The military offensive launched on February 24, 2022 by Russia in Ukraine caused, according to the latest UN data, the worst refugee crisis in Europe since World War II (1939-1945).
The Russian invasion – justified by Russian President Vladimir Putin as the need to “denazify” and demilitarize Ukraine for Russia’s security – was condemned by the wider international community, which has responded by sending arms to Ukraine and imposing them on Russia in political and economic sanctions.
Source: TSF
