Pope Francis: The doctor forbids me to visit Kyiv or Moscow at the moment
Ukraine controls 3 villages in the south and east
Military vehicle of the Ukrainian army in the Donetsk region.
Reuters
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced progress in the counter-offensive against Russian forces, which began last week, praising his forces for recapturing two villages in southern Ukraine, and a third in its east, as well as more lands in the east as well.
The Pope of the Vatican, Pope Francis, that the doctor prevents him from visiting Kyiv or Moscow at the present time.
In his video night speech, Zelensky thanked his forces for liberating a village in the Donetsk region in the east, capturing high lands in an eastern region also in the direction of Lyschansk-Seversk, and liberating two villages in the south.
The deputy director of Zelensky's office, Kirilo Tymoshenko, published a picture of soldiers raising the Ukrainian flag over a village in Kherson region in the southern region, which is the main focus of the counterattack.
Kherson is located to the north of Crimea, which Moscow annexed in 2014. The region was taken over by Russian forces at an early stage of the war.
Pro-Russian separatists in the Luhansk region announced their capture of Lyschansk in early July as part of a battle for the Donbass region, a coal-mining hub in eastern Ukraine.
The Southern Command of the Ukrainian Army announced the destruction of an ammunition depot and a pontoon bridge southeast of Kherson.
On the other hand, the Kremlin stressed that stopping Russian gas supplies to Germany via the strategic Nord Stream pipeline stems from a mistake made by Western countries, because their sanctions prevent the maintenance of gas infrastructure.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that "the problems with pumping gas have arisen due to the sanctions of Western countries.
There is no other reason for these problems.” His statement came a few days after the complete shutdown of the vital Nord Stream pipeline to supply gas to Europe amid fears of an energy crisis this winter.
"It is these sanctions that led to the situation that we are witnessing now," Peskov added.
He affirmed his categorical rejection of Western attempts to hold Moscow responsible.
He continued, "The West, and specifically the European Union, Canada and the United Kingdom, is responsible for bringing the situation to that stage."
He once again justified the reason for stopping Russian gas shipments to Germany via the "Nord Stream" line, with "the serious maintenance required by the last turbine that was in service until now."
On the other hand, the Ukrainian state-owned company, Energoatum, announced the disconnection of the last reactor operating at the Zaporizhia Nuclear Power Plant from the electricity grid, yesterday, and attributed the matter to a fire that broke out due to bombing that damaged a power line connecting this unit to the Ukrainian grid.
In addition, Pope Francis said that the doctor prevents him from visiting Ukraine or Russia at the present time, but stressed that the visit is “imminent.”
In an interview with CNN, which was carried by the Italian news agency Rai News, Pope Francis said: "I can't go now, because recovering from knee pain after my trip to Canada has become a bit unsatisfactory."
The Pope indicated that he was doing everything possible to put an end to the conflict in Ukraine, considering that the situation in this country was "really tragic."
He explained that he is in constant contact with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
"For example, I will have a phone conversation with President Zelensky tomorrow, and we will see what happens," he added.
• The Kremlin: stopping gas supplies through the "Nord Stream" pipeline due to Western sanctions.
Follow our latest local and sports news and the latest political and economic developments via Google news