Ukraine is claiming hundreds of settlements in Russian-occupied territories, but Russian forces continue their targeted attacks on critical infrastructure for the fifth consecutive day of intense bombing.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Friday promised that “his country’s armed forces will stand for victory in the war with Russia and that Ukraine will be free,” and Russian President Vladimir Putin said the mobilization would be completed within two weeks. .
Five days of Russian bombing
Russian forces have launched at least four missile attacks in Ukraine’s second largest city Kharkivthe Associated Press reported, citing local authorities.
The Ukrainian army has recaptured much of the previously occupied areas in Kharkiv Oblast, but Russian forces continue to bomb the regional administrative center with rockets.
Numerous Russian missile attacks shook the night and the city Zaporozhyeon which the shots continue to be concentrated.
The manager of the Zaporizhzhia region, Oleksandr Starukh, said in the morning that several explosions of infrastructure objects, resulting in fires, were reported in the regional administrative center during the night. According to preliminary data, there are no victims.
In the past few days and weeks, Russian forces have bombed the city of Zaporozhye and the surrounding area, AP notes. This raises concerns about the safety of the nearby Zaporozhye nuclear power plant. The largest nuclear power plant in Europe is occupied by Russia.
The Ukrainian army liberated over 600 settlements
The Ukrainian army has liberated more than 600 settlements in the Russian-occupied territories in the past month, including 75 in the strategic Kherson region, the Ukrainian reintegration ministry said.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky promised it on Friday at Ukraine’s Defender’s Day his country’s armed forces would win the war with Russia and Ukraine would be freeReuters reported.
In a video speech, Zelensky thanked Ukrainian soldiers for defending their homeland. He stressed that everything taken from Ukraine would be returned and that no soldiers would remain in captivity.
“It seems that the current enemy is a collective image of all the enemies of our statehood that we have faced in the past,” stressed the Ukrainian president.
“With victory over the enemy, we will give our answer to all who invaded our land. It will be a victory for all our people. It will be a victory for the armed forces of Ukraine.”Zelensky was categorical.
In this context, Russia has once again declared that it is ready for negotiations to achieve its goals in Ukraine.
Putin has no plans for further mobilization
Russian President Vladimir Putin, for his part, said that there are no plans for further military mobilization in Russia and that the current partial mobilization will end in the next two weeks.
According to the head of state, of the planned 300,000, 222,000 people have already been mobilized.
In his speech, he also said that any direct confrontation of NATO troops with Russia would lead to a “global catastrophe”.
He added that he did not see the need to speak to his American counterpart, Joe Biden, and that he had not yet decided whether to attend the G20 meeting in Indonesia next month.
Russia is advancing “very slowly” in the Donbass
Russian forces in Ukraine, including separatists of the self-proclaimed “Luhansk People’s Republic”, conducted a tactic drive towards the center of Bakhmut and has likely entered two settlements south of the strategic city in Donbass, the UK Defense Ministry said, as quoted by Reuters.
According to the British intelligence bulletin published daily by the department on military actions in Ukraine, the private military company “Wagner” is also actively participating in the battles for Bakhmut.
Bakhmut is located on an important road connecting the cities of Slavyansk and Kramatorsk.
The ministry indicated that, in general, Russia is continuing its offensive operations in the central part of the Donbas front sector, but proceeding “very slowly”.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xzcUn_9AjlE
Evacuation in the Kherson region
Meanwhile, the Russian government has announced that it will support the evacuation of civilians from the Kherson region.
On Wednesday, region-appointed post-occupation regional governor Vladimir Saldo advised local people to leave their homes.
He indicated that people could leave if they wanted to protect themselves from missile attacks. Kherson is one of the regions where Russian President Vladimir Putin announced joining the federation.
Western countries recognize neither annexation nor hastily held referendums in Ukrainian territories before then.
Russia claims the victims of Ukrainian bombing in the Belgorod region
Russia announced today that it has launched an investigation into alleged Ukrainian bombing in the Russian border region of Belgorod, in which it claims they would be killed and injured, Reuters reported.
The Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation did not specify the number of victims of yesterday’s bombing. According to him, missiles launched from Ukraine destroyed an ammunition depot in the Belgorod region.
Russian authorities also blamed Ukraine for more strikes in the region yesterday, which hit a school, an apartment building and an electricity substation.
A Ukrainian representative said the damage to the apartment building was caused by a deflected Russian missile launched at Ukraine.
Reuters has not yet been able to independently confirm any of the claims.
Since Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, Russian areas along the border have accused Ukrainian forces of attacking targets such as power lines, fuel depots or ammunition. Kiev has not claimed responsibility, but its representative once described previous similar incidents in retaliation for Moscow’s military actions against Ukraine.
EU launches mission to train 15,000 Ukrainian soldiers
EU ambassadors unanimously approved a military training mission for some 15,000 Ukrainian Armed Forces soldiers, diplomats said, cited by the DPA.
The decision, taken by the ambassadors of the 27 EU countries, will have to be formally approved by the foreign ministers of the member states on Monday in Luxembourg.
In August, EU foreign and security policy chief Josep Borrell pitched the idea of a new initiative to train the Ukrainian army.
According to previous statements, the mission could include training in areas such as logistics and defense against nuclear, biological and chemical weapons.
The mission is expected to last for two years initially and the training will take place in EU countries such as Poland and Germany. According to EU sources, Germany could train up to 5,000 Ukrainian soldiers in the coming months.
Some EU countries are already training the Ukrainian army on the basis of national agreements.
The EU mission also aims to coordinate the various training activities provided to Ukraine by the individual bloc countries.
So far the EU has supported the Ukrainian army by financing arms supplies. Since Russia invaded Ukraine in February, € 2.5 billion in military aid to Ukraine has been raised through an EU budget mechanism called the European Peace Facility.
Moscow goes back to talking about negotiations
Russia said the objectives of its “special military operation” in Ukraine remained unchanged, but could be achieved through negotiations.
“The direction has not changed, the special military operation continues, continues so that we can achieve our goals”. This was stated by the spokesman of the Kremlin Dmitry Peskov.
“However, we have repeatedly reiterated that we remain open to negotiations to achieve our goals.”
Peskov’s comments to the Russian newspaper Izvestia were the last this week to emphasize that Moscow was open to talks – a change of tone that followed a series of humiliating defeats for Russian forces in the war in Ukraine, which is about to end in Ukraine. eighth month, Reuters noted.
Although Russia has previously stated that it is willing to negotiate, the repeated mentions this week about the possibility of dialogue sound startling.
Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Tuesday that Moscow was open to talks with the West, but the United States rejected the statement calling it “attitude”.
Lavrov returned to the matter today, telling Izvestia: “We will not run after anyone. If there are specific series proposals, we are ready to consider them.” He added: “When we have a signal, we will be ready to examine it.”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has ruled out the possibility of speaking with President Vladimir Putin, after Russia announced the annexation of four Ukrainian regions last month and this week rained missiles on Ukrainian cities following an attack on a vital bridge between Russia and annexed Crimea.
“If we don’t stop, the third world war is coming”
The army and special services of Belarus are in the mode of a counter-terrorist operation and are ready to respond to provocations from neighboring countries. This was stated by the Belarusian Foreign Minister Vladimir Makei in “Izvestia”.
The reason for his words was a statement by President Alexander Lukashenko, who a few days ago said that the terrorist attacks against Belarus were prepared by Poland, Lithuania and Ukraine.
Polish President Andrzej Duda said he would be interested in having American nuclear weapons stationed in Poland, Mackay said, adding that “these are not just words”.
“There is a clear intention here to create another hotbed of tension near our borders. And of course, we can’t turn a blind eye to it“, He adds.
According to Putin, he and Lukashenko discussed the deployment of nuclear warheads in Belarus as a response.
“Great personalities like Charles de Gaulle and Konrad Adenauer have disappeared, Angela Merkel has retired. All leaders today are unable to make strategic decisions, to stop, think and decide what is most important in a given situation. Today we have to think about the main question of security: how to protect our region and the planet. If we don’t stop, things will surely turn into a third world warsays Mackay.
