“I am in daily contact with our commanders of the various directorates. Everyone is now in a positive mood. Let Putin know,” Zelensky said.
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The wait Ukrainian counteroffensive came alive. The president confirmed it today Volodymyr Zelensky during a joint press conference with the Canadian premier. “I won’t go into details”, specified the Kiev leader, who however responded remotely to the Russian president’s statements on the fact that the Ukrainian forces are “suffering significant losses”. “I am in daily contact with our commanders of the various directorates. Everyone is now in a positive mood. Let Putin know,” Zelensky remarked.
The British Ministry of Defense said that “in some areas, Ukrainian forces have penetrated the Russian first line of defence”, stressing however that in other areas “Ukrainian progress has been slower”. As for Russian performances, according to British officials “they have been mixed: some units are likely conducting defensive manoeuvres, others have retreated in disorder, while reports of Russian casualties are mounting due to withdrawal through minefields”.
The Russians: “4 Leopard tanks destroyed”
Some photographs had already been released yesterday showing Ukrainian vehicles donated by the West destroyed. The Russian armed forces confirmed today that they had repulsed the Ukrainian advance in the Zaporizhzhya region and southern Donetsk region and inflicted heavy losses on the enemy forces. “The total losses of Ukrainian forces in the above-mentioned areas in one day amounted to 300 soldiers, 9 tanks, including 4 Leopards, and 11 infantry fighting vehicles, including 5 American Bradleys,” the Defense Ministry spokesman said. Russian, Igor Konashenkov.
Putin: “Ukrainian counter-offensive did not break through at any point, nuclear weapons in Belarus”
UN: “Mine and epidemic alert after dam collapse”
Meanwhile, according to UN Humanitarian Affairs chief Martin Griffiths, Ukraine’s humanitarian crisis has “majorly worsened” after the Kakhovka dam burst. The official said 700,000 people need clean water and flooding of farmland in one of the world‘s major granaries will cause a “cascade of problems”, including reduced grain exports, higher prices of food products globally and the reduction of the availability of food for millions of people most in need.
So far, Griffiths said, the United Nations, together with Ukrainian NGOs, has reached 30,000 people in flooded areas under Ukrainian control. The senior official also said he has met with the Russian ambassador to the UN to gain access to Russian-controlled areas to help those affected by the floods. Meanwhile, the Ukrainian authorities report that around 2,600 people have been rescued and in fact saved from the flood.
The episode of the Kakhovka dam forces us to face even one of the more subtle risks of some conflicts, that posed by mines. They are not counted in Ukraine, and now they are being dragged by the waters released by the damaged dam, spreading everywhere, posing risks and damage for years to come.