“Freezing the conflict will only give the Russian Federation a break,” Zelenskyi quoted the Wall Street Journal as saying. That would only make the war last longer. According to Kyiv, more than 1,000 Russian soldiers were surrounded by Ukrainian forces in the occupied southern Ukrainian region of Cherson.
Vysokopillya: Russian forces caught in “tactical encirclement”.
Not far from the Vysokopillya settlement, the Russians were in a “tactical encirclement,” said President Volodymyr Zelensky’s adviser, Oleksiy Arestovych, on Friday evening. On Thursday they had unsuccessfully attempted a breakthrough. Arestovych’s statements might not be checked independently. There was initially no confirmation from the Russian side. Some time ago, the Ukrainian army confirmed the capture of the village of Potemkyne. The general staff report spoke of Russian bombing of the place. Wyssokopillja and Olhyne were not mentioned.
The Ukrainian army had recently launched several counter-offensives in the Cherson region, which Russian soldiers had largely brought under their control following the start of the war once morest the neighboring country that began at the end of February. Ukraine also wants to reconquer lost territories with the help of Western weapons. In Cherson, the population has repeatedly protested once morest the Russian occupiers in recent months. There were also attacks once morest pro-Russian administrators installed by Moscow.
US arms sales to Ukraine
Meanwhile, the US government says it is considering a possible delivery of American fighter jets to Ukraine. However, the communications director of the National Security Council, John Kirby, emphasized on Friday that “these are exploratory considerations that cannot be implemented in the near future”. The tests are not regarding machines from the ex-Soviet Union, but regarding American-made aircraft.
Kirby also announced on Friday more US arms sales to Ukraine worth around $270 million. According to him, this includes four Himars multiple rocket launchers, the delivery of which the US government had already announced. Kirby said the new package includes missiles for the Himars systems, 36,000 artillery shells, vehicles and up to 580 Phoenix Ghost drones, among other things. Since US President Joe Biden took office a year and a half ago, the US government has pledged $8.2 billion worth of weapons, ammunition and equipment to Ukraine.
According to a media report, the Ukrainian armed forces attacked the Russian-controlled city of Donetsk on Friday morning. This was reported by the state-owned Russian news agency Tass, citing the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic. Tass quoted acting mayor of Lysychansk in the neighboring Luhansk region, Andrei Skory, as saying that the city was experiencing difficulties with food deliveries. The reason for this is that Ukrainian troops destroyed bridges when retreating from Lysychansk.
Russia is running out of ground missiles
According to British military intelligence, Russia is now running out of specific ground missiles. That is why anti-aircraft missiles are increasingly being used for land attacks, reports the British Ministry of Defense, citing its secret services. However, since these are actually intended for shooting down aircraft and missiles, they might miss their targets on the ground. Therefore, they are particularly dangerous for soldiers or civilians. With massive buildings, they would have little clout.
Weapons might hit civilian victims with high probability
“There is a high probability that these weapons will miss their intended targets and cause civilian casualties because they are not optimized for this purpose,” the statement said. In addition, the personnel who shoot down the rockets are not sufficiently trained.
Since the beginning of the Russian war of aggression once morest Ukraine at the end of February, the British government has regularly published intelligence information on its progress. Moscow accuses London of a targeted disinformation campaign.
