2023-06-10 13:34:58
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky reported on Saturday of “counter-offensive actions” by his army on the front, without confirming whether it was the big attack prepared for months by Kyiv.
• Read also: Justin Trudeau on surprise visit to Ukraine; new sanctions announced
• Read also: Ukraine: three dead near Odessa following a drone attack
• Read also: Ukrainian “prisoners of war” handed over to Hungary
The Ukrainian authorities maintain the vagueness on their strategy while the Russian army reports for six days of the attacks of magnitude, including with equipment delivered by the West, on its positions, in particular in the south of Ukraine.
“Counter-offensive and defensive actions are taking place in Ukraine and I will not talk regarding them in detail,” said Mr. Zelensky during a press conference with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, on a surprise visit to Ukraine. Kyiv.
“You have to trust our soldiers and I trust them,” he added.
The Ukrainian head of state was questioned on statements by his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, who assured journalists on Friday that the great Ukrainian counter-offensive expected for months had “begun”.
However, Mr. Putin had added, “all counter-offensive attempts carried out so far have failed”, referring to losses “of the order of three (Ukrainians) for one” Russian, while affirming that Kyiv retained its “offensive potential”.
Armor destroyed
Mr. Zelensky simply called on Saturday not to trust the words of Vladimir Putin.
Friday evening, the Ukrainian president had praised the “heroism” of the soldiers of his country, engaged in “particularly hard fights”.
If the Ukrainian authorities seemed to put the extent of the fighting into perspective, the Russian army once more reported in its daily report on Saturday attacks by Kyiv forces in the regions of Zaporizhia (south) and Donetsk (east), in particularly near the devastated city of Bakhmout, which Moscow claimed full conquest in May.
The Russian Defense Ministry released a video showing a column of destroyed Western-made tanks and armored vehicles, some still smoldering in the southern Donetsk region.
The spokesman for the “East” command of the Ukrainian army, Serguiï Tcherevaty, meanwhile affirmed on television that the Kyiv troops had managed to advance 1,400 meters around Bakhmout.
Flooded localities
On the diplomatic front, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Saturday in the Ukrainian capital blamed Russia for the destruction of the Kakhovka hydroelectric dam in southern Ukraine. A disaster that caused the flooding of dozens of towns and villages on both banks of the Dnieper.
“There is absolutely no doubt in our mind that the destruction of the dam is a direct consequence of Russia’s decision to invade the country,” he said alongside Mr. Zelensky, without accusing Moscow. of having been at the origin of the explosion which destroyed the dam, for which the two camps reject responsibility.
According to the latest report from the Ukrainian Ministry of the Interior, five people died and 27 are missing in areas under Ukrainian control due to this sudden rise in water levels. The Russian occupation authorities deplored for their part at least eight dead.
Evacuations of local populations took place on both sides of the Dnieper, with each side accusing the other of continuing to bombard the flooded areas.
According to the Ukrainian count, 78 localities are flooded, of which 14 are in occupied territory.
Also in the south, the major Ukrainian port of Odessa on the Black Sea was once once more targeted by a drone attack at dawn, which left three dead and 26 injured, authorities said.
Russia also promised on Saturday a “response” to the closure of its embassy in Moscow by Iceland, which became the first country to take such a step since the start of the war in February 2022.
Reykjavik, however, assured that this decision did not mean the breaking of diplomatic relations with Russia.
1686409243
#Zelensky #reports #Ukrainian #counteroffensive #actions #front
