The surroundings of Kharkov and the possible Russian withdrawal, as well as the Russian attempts to cross the Donets River in their attempt to control the southern Donbas, where according to Ukraine have suffered a heavy defeat, this Friday they have become the military keys of the 79th day of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
The Ukrainian Army assured this Friday that it has managed to stop and cause the withdrawal of Russian troops trying to cross the Donets River. As reported on social networks by the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense and other sources related to volunteers fighting Russian troops, the Ukrainian army Russia has been trapped after crossing the aforementioned river and had to disperse due to local artillery attacks.
According to these sources, the Russian troops, who were trying to cross the Donets River, west of Severodonetsk in Donbas, have suffered heavy losses and, in fact, in their retreat, they had to abandon part of their equipment and there were soldiers who even found themselves forced to swim across to safety.
The Russians have been trying for four days to cross that river, according to the Ukrainians, and in their attempts they have lost more than 70 units of equipment and two battalions of infantry with engineers.
As for Kharkov, according to the New York Times, the Russian Army is withdrawing troops from the outskirts of the city, the second largest city in Ukraineon which it had intensified its bombardments in recent days.
The newspaper, which cites official Ukrainian and Western allied sources, assures that the Russians have lost ground in this region neighboring Donbas, where the self-proclaimed republics of Donestk and Lugansk are located, both recognized by Moscow.
Ukrainian authorities believe the Kremlin is likely to redirect troops now to the southeast, where it is said to be reinforcing its forces in Izium, a city it captured last month.
According to the latest report from the Institute for the Study of War (USA), the Ukrainian counter-offensive in Kharkov is also forcing Russian units still near the city to concentrate their bombardment on the attacking Ukrainian troops instead of continuing their attacks. to the city itself.
According to this institute “the Ukrainian counteroffensive near Kharkov is beginning to look a lot like the counteroffensive that finally expelled Russian troops from kyiv and western Ukrainealthough it is too early to know if the Russians will make a similar decision here,” referring to a possible withdrawal.
Sweden takes a step towards NATO
Sweden took this Friday a step towards its integration into the OTAN, as Finland did yesterday. Today a report has been approved by the Swedish Social Democratic government and the majority of the parliamentary forces that says that joining the Alliance would have a deterrent effect against armed conflicts in northern Europe.
The report, which analyzes the new situation generated by the war in Ukraineconsiders that Sweden would strengthen its security and that of its neighboring countries by joining the alliance, although it does not include any specific recommendation on accession.
The report believes that there is not much room to strengthen cooperation with the alliance, nor is it realistic to think of deepening bilateral alliances outside of it due to the lack of political will to create a collective defense within the European Union (UE).
“The main consequence of an eventual entry into the OTAN would be that Sweden would be part of their collective security,” Foreign Minister Ann Linde told a news conference.
Another 500 million from the EU for Ukraine
The High Representative of the European Union (UE) for Foreign Policy, Josep Borrell, announced this Friday that Brussels will provide another 500 million euros to support the Ukrainian Army.
“It will be about 2,000 million euros in total,” he said in Weissenhaus, northern Germany, where he is attending a meeting of foreign ministers of the Group of Seven (G7).
The head of European diplomacy ruled out the possibility that the 500 million euros would be used to supply Ukraine combat planes, as the Government of President Volodímir Zelenski had demanded and that, on the contrary, this amount will be used to provide heavy weapons.
“At the moment we are supplying armored vehicles, tanks, heavy artillery, ammunition, the things that are needed in this type of war,” he summarized.
The “recipe” regarding the war of Ukraine is “clear” and reads “more of the same”, according to Borrell, who summed it up in more support for kyiv, including military aid, and more pressure on Russiathrough sanctions and the international isolation of Moscow.
And Lavrov accuses the EU of being an “aggressive and bellicose actor”
The foreign minister of RussiaSergei Lavrov, accused the European Union (UE) of having become an “aggressive and bellicose actor” and expressed his doubts that the desire to Ukraine to join the Twenty-seven.
“The UE from a constructive platform, quality on which it was founded, it has become an aggressive and bellicose actor, already declaring ambitions that go far beyond the border of the European continent,” Lavrov said in Dushanbe, the capital of Tajikistan, to the press
According to the head of Russian diplomacy, the European Union intends to follow in the footsteps of the OTAN“which confirms the tendency that it merges with the North Atlantic Alliance and that, in fact, it will fulfill the function of its appendage”.