On Sunday, nearly a month after the launch of its counterattack, Kiev acknowledged that Russian forces are advancing in four areas on the front line in the east of the country, where “fierce battles” are taking place, confirming that its forces are making some progress in the south of the country.
The Deputy Minister of Defense, Gana Maliar, wrote on her Telegram channel that “fierce battles are taking place everywhere (…) the situation is complicated,” noting that the Ukrainian forces are advancing from their side in one region in the east of the country and two regions in the south.
“The enemy is advancing”
She explained, “The enemy is advancing in the regions of Avdiivka, Mariinka and Liman. The enemy is also advancing in the Svatovo sector.”
As for the Ukrainian forces, they were able, according to Malyar, to achieve “partial success” with their advance on the southern side of Bakhmut, as well as near Berdyansk and Melitopol in the south of the country.
The Deputy Minister of Defense pointed out that in the south of the country, Ukrainian forces are making “gradual” progress in the face of “strong enemy resistance” and minefields.
She added that the Ukrainian forces are “working persistently and non-stop to create the conditions for achieving progress as quickly as possible.”
Sixteen months after the start of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and nearly one month after the start of the Ukrainian counter-offensive, Kiev is struggling to make decisive progress and is urging its Western allies to accelerate their promised military aid as the NATO summit approaches in Vilnius on July 11-12.
night raids
These developments on the front lines in Ukraine come in the wake of a night attack targeting Kiev with explosive drones, the first of its kind in 12 days, according to Ukrainian officials.
“All enemy targets in the airspace around Kiev were detected and destroyed,” said Sergey Popko, the head of the military administration for the city of Kiev.
In a separate statement, the Ukrainian Air Force announced that it had destroyed eight Iranian-made Shahed drones and three Russian Kalibr cruise missiles.
In an interview published Friday, the Ukrainian Chief of Staff, General Valery Zaluzhny, demanded that the West supply his forces with more weapons, warning that their lack of fighter jets and artillery would hinder their plans to move forward with their counterattack.
Zalogny told The Washington Post that he was frustrated by the slow delivery of weapons promised by the West to Ukraine.
He made it clear that his country’s Western allies would not have launched an attack without guaranteeing their air superiority, while Ukraine is still waiting to receive the F-16 fighters promised by its allies.
“I will not threaten the world”
He told the American newspaper, “I do not need 120 planes. I will not threaten the entire world. A very limited number will suffice.”
He was also quoted by the Washington Post as saying he had fewer artillery shells than the torrent of shells fired by Russia.
The Ukrainian general also regretted that the delay in sending this equipment to his army was “fatal”.
“Until this decision is made, many people die every day — many. Just because the decision has not been made yet,” he said.
As for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, during his reception in Kiev, Saturday, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez on the first day of Madrid’s assumption of the rotating presidency of the European Union, he accused “some” of his country’s Western partners of procrastinating in training its pilots to fly American F-16 fighters.
Ukrainian military pilots are trained to fly Soviet MiG and Sukhoi fighters.
“There is no timetable for training missions. I think some partners are dragging their feet. Why are they doing that? I don’t know,” Zelensky said.
But Washington responded by saying that it and its allies are doing their best to provide Kiev with what it needs.
The head of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Mark Milley, said that providing Ukrainian forces with F-16 fighters or accurate Atakms missiles is a topic “on the table, but no decision has been taken on it yet.”
He added that the Ukrainian counterattack “is going a little slowly, but that’s part of the nature of the war. It doesn’t surprise anyone at all.”
“We are giving them all possible assistance,” he added.
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2023-07-03 00:34:59
