Russia says it has thwarted a ‘large-scale’ Ukrainian assault
Russia claims to have thwarted a large-scale assault by Ukraine within the jap province of Donetsk, killing a whole lot of troops and destroying plenty of tanks.
Ukraine has not commented on the claims by the Kremlin’s defence ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov yesterday.
He stated Russian forces had killed 250 Ukrainian personnel and destroyed 16 tanks, three infantry combating automobiles and 21 armoured fight automobiles. The ministry additionally launched a video which claimed to point out among the destroyed tools.
“The enemy’s goal was to break through our defences in the most vulnerable — in its opinion — sector of the front,” stated Mr Konashenkov. “The enemy did not achieve its tasks. It had no success.”
In a uncommon particular point out of the presence of Russia’s prime navy leaders in battlefield operations, he stated the chief of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces, General Valery Gerasimov, “was at one of the forward command posts”.
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Announcing his direct involvement may very well be interpreted by the West as a response to criticism that Russia’s navy brass had not been seen a lot on the entrance or had taken enough management or accountability for navy operations in Ukraine.
On Sunday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky stated at the very least 500 Ukrainian kids had misplaced their lives for the reason that conflict began. The United Nations says round 1,000 different Ukrainian kids have been wounded and hundreds of others have been forcibly deported to Russia.
Mr Zelensky wrote within the messaging app Telegram: “Russian weapons and hatred continue to take and destroy the lives of Ukrainian children every day,” including that “many of them could have become famous scholars, artists, sports champions, contributing to Ukraine’s history”.
He added: “We must hold out and win this war. All of Ukraine, all our people, all our children, must be free from the Russian terror.”
His feedback got here after Ukrainian authorities stated a soldier had returned to the central metropolis of Dnipro solely to search out his two-year-old daughter useless and his spouse critically wounded after a missile strike that left 25 individuals injured, together with 5 kids.
Russian drone and cruise missile strikes on Sunday focused a number of areas of the nation, together with the capital, Kyiv.
The Ukrainian air pressure up to date earlier figures and stated that air defences had shot down six of eight Shahed self-exploding drones and 4 of six cruise missiles fired.
According to the BBC, Ukraine has been planning a counter-offensive for months however has wished as a lot time as potential to coach troops and deploy navy tools from Western allies. Officials in Kyiv have warned in opposition to public hypothesis over the offensive, saying it might assist the enemy.
“Plans love silence. There will be no announcement of the start,” the defence ministry stated in a video posted to Telegram on Sunday. The footage featured masked and well-armed troops holding their fingers in opposition to their lips.
Elsewhere, fighters against the federal government in Moscow say that they had captured some Russian troopers in Belgorod, close to the border with Ukraine. The declare was made by the Liberty of Russia Legion, which described the announcement as a joint assertion with the Russian Volunteer Corps. Both teams need to oust the President, Vladimir Putin and oppose the invasion of Ukraine he launched in February 2022.