Ukraine announces penetration of Russian defenses and regains territory in many regions

Zelensky talks about good news in the East .. and Blinken is in Kyiv for help

Blinken receives from President Zelensky the Order of Prince Yaroslav, 2nd Class, during their meeting in Kyiv.

AFP

Yesterday, the Ukrainian army announced that it had penetrated Russian defenses and regained lands in many areas on the front, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky spoke of "good news" from the battlefields in the east of the country, saying that his army had recaptured some towns and villages from Russia, while visiting the Foreign Minister. The American Anthony Blinken, Kyiv, in conjunction with the announcement by the United States of new military aid amounting to about 2.8 billion dollars.

While the Ukrainian forces have launched a large-scale counterattack since last week, especially to regain the Kherson region in the south of the country, the Chief of Staff announced a series of successes on many fronts.

The biggest progress has been made in the Kharkiv border region with Russia in the northeast of the country, where Ukrainian forces assert that they have penetrated Russian defenses to a depth of 50 km and recaptured more than 20 towns from Russian forces.

In the south, an officer of the Ukrainian General Staff Oleksiy Gromov confirmed that "in some directions" the Ukrainian army "has achieved a deep penetration into the enemy's defenses (within an area ranging) from two kilometers to tens of kilometers," according to the regions.

"A number of towns have been liberated," he added.

In the Donbass, Ukrainian soldiers took control of between two and three kilometers in the vicinity of the cities of Kramatorsk and Slovyansk, which are still under Ukrainian control, and recaptured from the Russians the town of Uzern, according to Gromov.

President Zelensky announced in a speech late last night that his forces had liberated some residential communities in the Kharkiv region in a counter-attack.

Some Western analysts have estimated that Kyiv may have reclaimed about 400 square kilometers of territory, after its forces advanced far behind Russian lines.

“This week we have good news from Kharkiv Oblast.

You have all probably seen reports on the latest activities of Ukrainian defenders.

And I think every (Ukrainian) citizen feels proud of our warriors.”

Noting that the situation in the region remains highly volatile, Zelensky said it was too early to name the towns and villages that had been retaken, while thanking three battalions for their courage.

The announcement of these military achievements, the largest for Ukraine since the withdrawal of Russian forces from the Kyiv region in late March, coincided with US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken's surprise visit to Kyiv, promising to provide a new aid package.

Blinken did not announce in advance this visit, which is his second to Kyiv since the start of the Russian war on Ukraine on February 24.

In total, Washington promised to provide additional assistance of about 2.8 billion dollars to Ukraine and its neighboring countries in the face of Russia, and within this amount, there is direct assistance to Kiev in the amount of 675 million dollars that will be sent in the form of shipments of weapons, ammunition and HIMARS artillery systems that previously allowed Kiev to strike the lines of Russian supplies are located far behind the front line, and the remaining $2.2 billion will be provided in the form of loans and grants to Ukraine and 18 neighboring countries that feel threatened by Russia, to purchase American military equipment.

Among those countries are Moldova and Georgia, which includes breakaway regions backed by Russia, as well as the Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and Bosnia, where tensions have risen with Bosnian Serb leaders backed by Russia.

In Kyiv, Blinken began his visit from a hospital treating children victims of war accompanied by his Ukrainian counterpart, Dmytro Kuleba, telling the children, “I brought you friends,” offering them stuffed toys.

He then held a meeting with Kuleba before meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

"The minister wanted to make this trip now, given the importance of the stage for Ukraine," said a senior official accompanying Blinken, without revealing her name.

She added that "all military aid aims to contribute to ensuring Ukraine's success in the counterattack," considering that this will be "very important in terms of how the war develops."

Hours before Blinken's arrival in Kyiv, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin hailed the "clear success" of the Ukrainians on the "battlefield."

Austin spoke yesterday morning from the US military base Ramstein in Germany, where he will participate in a meeting with representatives of more than 40 countries and NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, dedicated to discussing the challenges posed by critical arms deliveries to Ukraine.

On the ground, Kharkiv was once again subjected to Russian bombardment yesterday morning, killing two people and wounding five, according to the region’s governor, Oleg Senigubov. Three people were killed and five others were wounded yesterday, in the Zaporizhia region in the south of the country.

Seven others were killed in Donetsk, in the industrial east of Ukraine.

For its part, the Russian army confirmed that the Ukrainians continued to suffer "heavy losses."

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