Ukraine claims new conquests while receiving an anti-aircraft defense system from Germany

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Ukraine

on Wednesday claimed the recapture of several towns taken by Russian troops in the south of the country and celebrated the shipment by

of an anti-aircraft defense system that should allow it to protect itself from bombing campaigns against its cities.

NATO Secretary General

said that supplying these systems to neutralize Russian missiles was "the priority".

These promises of military material take place after an avalanche of missiles, rockets and drones fell in

in the last two days, presented by the Russian president,

, as a retaliation for the attack with explosives against the Crimean bridge, that connects this peninsula annexed by

in 2014 with Russian territory.

These bombings left 19 dead, more than 100 wounded and serious damage to the energy infrastructure, according to the Ukrainian authorities.

The capital,

was hit by shells, something that had not happened since the end of June.

With the arrival

and the upcoming delivery of American

, Ukrainian Defense Minister

predicted "a new era of air defense".

In a virtual meeting the day before with the leaders of the G7, the Ukrainian president,

, demanded their help to create an "anti-aircraft shield" and warned that

still has "means to intensify its offensive".

The Russian security services (FSB) announced on Wednesday the arrest of eight people suspected of participating in the organization of the attack on the Crimean bridge which, according to them, was orchestrated by Ukrainian intelligence.

The Ukrainian authorities did not confirm or deny being involved in the explosion on the bridge, but always defended their desire to recover Crimea and the rest of the territories occupied by

since the start of the war in February.

Turkey as mediator?

At the diplomatic level, before the meeting between President

and his Turkish counterpart,

, on Thursday in Kazakhstan, the Kremlin said Wednesday that it expected Ankara to present an "official" mediation proposal.

"The Turks are proposing mediation. In case of negotiations, then most likely they will take place on their territory: in Istanbul or Ankara," Kremlin foreign policy adviser

said .

And the

agreed to organize a broad military mission to train Ukrainian forces in various member states of the bloc.

The measure could affect 15,000 soldiers, according to diplomatic sources.

On the ground, the Ukrainian presidency announced the recovery of another five towns in Kherson (south), as part of the counteroffensive launched by

in September in the south and northeast of the country.

"The Ukrainian armed forces liberated five more towns in the Berislav district of the Kherson region:

," the presidency said, although it noted that Russian artillery was resisting.

The Russian Ministry of Defense indicated that it had fought the Ukrainian forces in a small sector of the Kharkov region (northeast) still under Russian control, in the north of the Kherson region and in the eastern areas of

.

Ukraine also reported that a Russian shelling on Wednesday at a market in the city of

, near the eastern front line, killed seven.

Common pits

In eastern

, the authorities reported the discovery of two new mass graves in towns in the Donetsk region, recently recovered from Russian control.

In

, a railway junction reconquered at the beginning of the month, a medical-forensic team dressed in protective suits exhumed dozens of bodies, an AFP journalist confirmed.

"We have already found more than 50 bodies of soldiers and civilians. We have a long ditch, a mass grave, where we have discovered bodies and body parts," explained

, governor of the region.

On the energy front, President Putin denounced the leaks that affected the

gas pipelines connecting Russia and Germany as an "act of international terrorism."

But he said he was willing to resume the gas supply from an undamaged pipeline.

"The ball is in the court" of the European Union, he noted.

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