2023-06-19 11:26:15
6/19/2023-|Last update: 6/19/202303:12 PM (Mecca Time)
Ukraine announced the restoration of a new village on the southern front of the country, bringing to 8 the number of residential areas recovered within two weeks of counter-offensive operations. Moscow-backed officials in the territories it controls.
Ukrainian Deputy Defense Minister Hana Malyar reported on Telegram today, Monday, that Ukrainian forces had not only recaptured the village of Pyatikhatki, but had advanced as much as seven kilometers into Russian lines in two weeks.
It added that “within two weeks of offensive operations towards Berdyansk and Melitopol, eight residential communities were liberated,” and the Ukrainian army recovered 113 square kilometers. It also pointed out that the Ukrainian forces advanced in the south “to a depth of seven kilometers” from the Russian positions.
She said that Russia had deployed additional forces in the east to stop the advance of the Ukrainian forces on the Bakhmut axis, noting that the intensity of the clashes decreased in this axis last week, but they continue, with a total number of 41 clashes, and the Ukrainian forces made progress in several areas.
On the other hand, the governor of the Russian Belgorod region bordering Ukraine, Vyacheslav Gladkov, announced that seven people, including a child, were injured in Ukrainian strikes on the region.
He added on Telegram that strikes targeted several residential buildings in the Valuysk neighborhood. And he published a picture of a stuffed toy near a broken window in one of the damaged buildings, indicating that all the wounded were hospitalized.
Russian attacks
In terms of Russian attacks, the military administration in Odessa, southern Ukraine, reported that the region was subject to a Russian attack and the air defenses worked to repel it. The Ukrainian Air Force also announced that explosions occurred in Odessa caused by air defenses dealing with missiles coming from the Black Sea.
For his part, the Al-Jazeera correspondent reported that a series of explosions occurred in the city of Zaporizhia, southeastern Ukraine, following monitoring the firing of “S-300” missiles at the city.
And the Ukrainian General Staff said that the Russian forces carried out more than 40 air raids and 60 missile attacks on Ukrainian sites and residential areas, while the Russian Defense Ministry said that it had repelled a series of major Ukrainian attacks in 3 sectors in Zaporizhia.
This comes at a time when battles raged on the southern front of the country, causing both sides heavy losses, according to Western intelligence reports.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Zelensky mocked what he described as the Russian allegations regarding the destruction of Patriot systems, and said that all Patriot systems shoot down Russian missiles with the greatest efficiency and that no platform was destroyed, noting that 36 Russian missiles were destroyed during the past seven days alone.
He added that Russia will not only fail to seize more Ukrainian lands, but will also lose what it occupies now, and it must prepare its citizens for that.
Zelensky added, in his nightly broadcast in Kiev, that the Ukrainian forces are progressing step by step towards liberating their country, noting that Ukraine expects new pledges of military assistance from its allies in the next few days.
“thwarting a plot”
In another context, the Russian Federal Security Service said today, Monday, that it had thwarted a series of Ukrainian “sabotage and terrorist plots” targeting Moscow-backed officials in Russian-controlled territories inside Ukraine, and arrested a woman as part of an investigation.
The agency said in a statement that the attacks targeted Russian law enforcement officials and government officials appointed by Russia in the Zaporizhia region of southern Ukraine, one of four Ukrainian regions that Moscow says it has annexed since the start of what it calls a “special military operation”.
Kakhovka Dam
In another matter, the Russian Ministry of Defense warned today, Monday, that the flood in the Kherson region caused by the huge Kakhovka dam fault in Ukraine may lead to an outbreak of mosquito-borne diseases such as an outbreak of West Nile fever in the region.
On the other hand, the United Nations Humanitarian Coordinator in Ukraine on Sunday accused Russia of obstructing the delivery of aid to the victims of the Kakhovka Dam bombing in the areas it controls in southern Ukraine.
The Kakhovka hydroelectric dam, located in a Russian-controlled area of Kherson, was destroyed on June 6, necessitating the evacuation of thousands of residents and raising fears of a humanitarian and environmental catastrophe as it endangered the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant and threatened drinking water supplies.
“The Government of the Russian Federation has so far refused our request for access to these areas temporarily under its military control,” Coordinator Denise Brown said in a statement, urging the Russian authorities to “act in accordance with their obligations under international humanitarian law.”
On Saturday, Russia raised the death toll from the floods in the areas it controls in southern Ukraine to 29, while the Ukrainian authorities announced the death of 16 people and the loss of 31 others as a result of the floods.
combat prisoners
Meanwhile, the head of the “Wagner” group said today, Sunday, that regarding 32,000 men who were recruited from Russian prisons to perform military service in Ukraine have returned to their country, stressing that they have fulfilled their contracts and have been deployed in combat operations.
Human rights activists and women expressed concern that “many criminals – including murderers and other violent criminals – have been pardoned and reintegrated into Russian society prematurely, but Prigozhin considers military service to be a major social rehabilitation program.”
Prigozhin claimed – in an audio message posted on his channel on the Telegram application – that those released had committed only 83 crimes in total. This is 80 times less than the crimes that were usually committed by those released periodically following serving their sentences.
NATO exercises
This coincides with the preparation of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) to conduct an air maneuver over the eastern wing of the alliance bordering Russia.
The German news agency reported that a major air maneuver will be launched this week, including the participation of fighters flying over the eastern wing of the alliance. According to the maneuver plans, the Eastern Alliance partners requested that such a signal be sent with “military security and solidarity”.
Last Monday, NATO began a series of its largest air maneuvers coordinated by Germany, called “Air Defender 23”, and aims to show the unity of its members in the face of potential threats, especially from Russia. The maneuvers include exercises in the airspace of Germany, the Czech Republic, Estonia and Latvia.
The Air Defender 23 training will continue until June 23, and will include regarding 250 military aircraft from 25 member states and allies of NATO, including Japan and Sweden, which are candidates to join the world’s largest military alliance.
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