meAccording to the British findings, the Ukrainian drone strikes have so far prevented the Russian forces from gaining control of the Black Sea. Russia always tries to focus its forces on strategically important areas Snake Island Near the port city of Odessa To strengthen, the Ministry of Defense in London said on Wednesday, citing British intelligence. Since the sinking of the guided-missile cruiser “Moskva” and the withdrawal of the Navy to the annexed Crimea, Russian supply ships have had little protection.
“The current Russian efforts to reinforce its forces on Snake Island provide Ukraine with more opportunities to attack Russian forces and destroy equipment,” the ministry said. Ukraine has successfully deployed Bayraktar combat drones. However, if Russia can strengthen its position with strategic air defense and coastal defense cruise missiles, this could change the situation.
Recently, reports from both sides indicated heavy fighting around Snake Island, which is 35 kilometers from the coast off the Danube Delta in the Odessa region. Russian forces captured the Ukrainian base there more than two and a half months ago, at the start of the war.
Ukraine announces territorial gains around Kharkiv in the northeast
Meanwhile, the Ukrainian Armed Forces also announced ground gains around the second largest city Kharkiv in the east of the country. “The occupiers are being gradually removed from Kharkiv,” President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a video message on Wednesday evening. “The villages of Cherkasy Tishki, Russky Tishki, Robyshny and Bayrak have been liberated,” the Ukrainian General Staff said on Facebook.
A Ukrainian National Guard soldier enters an underground bunker in Kharkiv
Source: dpa / Felipe Dana
While the Russian armed forces could bombard the city of Kharkiv “lessly” by shelling it with artillery, “the intensity of the shelling in the Kharkiv region has increased.” According to the Ukrainian regional administration, Russian troops leave “death traps” – mines.
The northern and northeastern parts of Kharkiv have been the target of Russian missile attacks in recent weeks. Russian forces also advanced to a distance of a few kilometers from the city. However, the US Institute for War Research (ISW) said over the weekend that the Ukrainian military “is making significant progress in that part of the country and is likely to advance to the Russian border in the next few days or weeks.”
Source: Infographic World
As the Ukrainians regain control of lost territories in the northeast of the country, the Russians advance about 150 kilometers southeast of the country Donbass piece by piece. Ukraine’s Southern Command reported “merciless” attacks by Russian forces on homes, farms and energy supplies. Meanwhile, the deputy mayor of the almost completely devastated port city of Mariupol, Petro Andryushenko, reported that the last Ukrainian troops at the Azov Steel Plant continued to face “dozens” of attacks.
In the south of the country, “psychological pressure on the residents of the neighborhood TransnistriaAccording to the Ukrainian army. Accordingly, there is a threat of “a siege of the area due to the decommissioning of the Dniester bridge, which was again attacked by missiles.”
US intelligence believes that Russia wants to establish a land connection from the occupied territories in the Donbass and near Crimea to the pro-Russian breakaway region of Transnistria in eastern Moldova.
The defenders of Mariupol are entrenched in Azovstal
The fighting in eastern Ukraine Mariupol Meanwhile, keep going. According to Ukrainian sources, the last defenders of the city, holed up in steelworks, have to remain in the position until they surrender. Russian President Volodymyr Zelensky, according to Okrajinska Pravda, said that the Russian army rejected any proposal to withdraw fighters unhindered from the Azovstal plant.
“The defenders of Mariupol remain there, continuing the resistance in the Azovstal region.” Kyiv continues to use all available diplomatic options to enable the rescue of soldiers. Russia insists on the surrender of the defenders of Azovstal.
Zelensky previously stated that Ukraine does not currently possess the heavy weapons needed to push for a successful liberation of Mariupol. More than two months after the start of the war and after heavy fighting in the port city of Mariupol, the last Ukrainian soldiers holed up at the Azovstal plant and offer fierce resistance to Russian soldiers and pro-Russian separatists.
Wounded soldiers of the Azov regiment entrenched in Azovstal
Source: AP / Dmytro ‘Orest’ Kozatskyi
Defenders of the steel plant reported heavy shelling by Russian forces on Tuesday. The deputy commander of the Azov regiment, Svyatoslav Balamar, told Ukrainska Pravda that the area was attacked from the air all night. There are many seriously injured. They desperately need to bring them to safety.
Most recently, several hundred civilians were evacuated from the site mediated by the United Nations and the Red Cross. Contrary to recent reports about the complete evacuation of all civilians from the Mariupol plant, the head of the regional administration Pavlo Kirilenko said Monday evening that there are still 100 people who are not combatants.
Near Mariupol on the outskirts of the city in the southeast of Ukraine Zaporizhia At least one person was killed and eight others wounded in renewed Russian attacks on Tuesday evening. Okrajinska Pravda reported that, according to the regional administration, mainly residential buildings in Orekhovo were bombed. Because of the intensity of the bombing, the delivery of humanitarian aid to the town was temporarily interrupted. The information cannot be independently verified.
Russian military reports on the destruction of Ukrainian ammunition depots
According to their statements, the Russian armed forces destroyed more than a dozen ammunition depots and command centers in Ukraine on Wednesday night. “Rocket forces and artillery units bombed 407 areas with a concentration of troops and military equipment, destroying 13 command posts, four Ossa-AKM missile launchers and 14 ammunition depots,” said Igor Konashenkov, a spokesman for the Moscow Defense Ministry. In addition, two command posts and three ammunition depots were destroyed by the Army Aviation and the Tactical Air Force.
In total, Russian air and artillery strikes killed 280 Ukrainian soldiers and disabled nearly 60 military vehicles overnight. The information cannot be independently verified at first. Konashenkov also spoke of the downing of nine Ukrainian drones, including one over the strategically important Snake Island in the Black Sea.
Zelensky praises the “super power” of the Ukrainian forces
Ukrainian President Zelensky praised in his daily video address Courage and sacrifice of troops town. “I am grateful to all our mother-in-law who are defending themselves and showing truly superhuman strength to drive out the army of invaders,” he said Tuesday night. And that in the battle against “the second most powerful army in the world at once”.
Despite other successes on various fronts, Zelensky did not want to allow euphoria and “excessive emotions” to appear. He cautioned that “there is no need to create an atmosphere of specific moral pressure when expecting certain victories on a weekly and even daily basis.”
Source: WELT infographic / Isabell Bischoff
The Ukrainian president cited reports of success from his General Staff, which on Tuesday reported territorial gains in the vicinity of the eastern city of Kharkiv. The occupiers will be “gradually” expelled from the area. According to the Ukrainian army, several towns were restored. The information cannot initially be verified independently. “Ukrainian armed forces are doing everything they can to liberate our country and people,” Zelensky said. “All our cities will be liberated – Kherson, Melitopol, Berdyansk, Mariupol and all other cities.”