Kiev makes “progress” on the battlefield, thanks to the “courage and commitment” of its armed forces but also “to the support provided by NATO allies”. On the eve of the defense ministerial of the Atlantic Alliance, the Secretary General, Jens Stoltenberg, confirms the new steps forward made by Ukraine in its counter-offensive. Kiev’s troops say they have advanced 200 meters to 1.4 kilometers in different sectors of the front in the past three days and have cleared an area of about 3 square kilometers. Even if the Ukrainian Deputy Minister of Defense Hanna Malyar remains cautious, speaking of “partial success” of the Kiev military who face “extremely fierce fighting” and the “air and artillery superiority of the enemy”.
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But Stoltenberg is also looking to the future of the invaded country, announcing that the ministerial will discuss “a multi-year support package with substantial funding to ensure that Ukraine can defend itself in the long term” because “we must ensure that, when this war ends, they are in act credible agreements for the security of Ukraine”. NATO is also following the evolution of the situation in Belarus, where the first Russian nuclear weapons have arrived. “We have received missiles and bombs from Russia – says the Belarusian president, Alexander Lukashenko – a bomb is three times more powerful than Hiroshima and Nagasaki”. With the explosion of these bombs, continues the leader of Minsk, “about a million people will die immediately. God forbid this weapon is used.’ But Stoltenberg warns: «We made it clear to President Putin that nuclear war cannot be fought or won. The Russians know that the use of tactical nuclear weapons would lead to severe consequences.”
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The nuclear nightmare is also hovering over the Zaporizhzia power plant, whose estate may have been endangered by the destruction of the Nova Kakhovka dam. However, the visit to the plant by the IAEA director general, Rafael Grossi, was delayed due to safety problems during the trip. He is also critical on the front of the agreement on the export of grain via the Black Sea, as highlighted by the Kremlin spokesman, Dmitry Peskov. “In the absence of reciprocity and the West’s desire to fulfill the part of the agreements concerning Russia – he warns – our good will cannot be infinite”. As for the objectives of the invasion, Peskov clarified that there are no changes of status on the horizon but that “the special operation is underway, remains and continues”. Moscow, therefore, goes ahead and continues to strike. Three deaths were recorded in Russian raids on Odessa, three victims in attacks on Kramatorsk and Kostyantynivka, in Donetsk, while the toll of civilians killed in the bombing of Kryvyi Rih, Zelensky’s hometown, rose to 12. And the Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak denounces: «All the last missiles launched by Russia were produced in the spring of 2023. In all, without exception, we find Western-made microelectronic components supplied by private companies to Russia through third countries, bypassing the restrictions of sanctions”.