The Ukrainians apparently took advantage of the moment of surprise in the Kharkiv region, reporting an advance of kilometers – SME

The Ukrainian side claims to have recaptured a territory with an area of ​​700 square kilometers. The article continues under the video advertisement The article continues under the video advertisement BRATISLAVA. During the past day, Ukrainian forces advanced at least 50 kilometers in the Kharkov region in the east of the country, in the territory under the control of Russian soldiers. General Oleksiy Hromov from the Ukrainian General Staff stated this in front of journalists. The Ukrainians thus recaptured an area of ​​approximately 700 square kilometers, reported the Ukrainská pravda website. Analysts from the American Institute for the Study of War (ISW) also stated this in their latest report on the development of fighting in Ukraine. The Ukrainian General Staff also stated that in the past 24 hours, the Ukrainian army destroyed two Russian Su-25 aircraft and Ka-52 combat helicopters and Mi-24. The reports of both warring parties about losses caused by each other cannot be independently verified in the conditions of ongoing fighting. to send reinforcements to the Kharkiv region, according to ISW from Russian sources. Until now, the Russian troops in the area were probably not numerous enough, considering that Russia is concentrating on conquering the rest of the Donetsk region and also on the south of Ukraine, where the Ukrainian forces launched a counteroffensive. The Ukrainians apparently managed to use the moment of surprise and the transfer of Russian soldiers to the southern axis of the fighting and undertake a highly effective counter-offensive in the Kharkiv region northwest of the city of Izjum, states the ISW. According to the institute, the degree of surprise is evidenced by the shocked tone of Russian Internet commentators on the war, which at the same time demoralizes the Russian forces. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi already spoke in a traditional video address on Wednesday evening about the recapture of several villages from Russian forces in the Kharkiv region. However, he did not specify which municipalities are involved. “Now is not the time to publish the names of the cities to which the Ukrainian
the flag,” he declared. Russian forces attacked KharkivRussian forces attacked the city of Kharkiv itself on Thursday night. According to the mayor of the city, Ihor Terechov, two rockets fell on the Saltovskoye and Kholodnogorsk districts around midnight. Terechov claims that according to preliminary reports, the strike on the Saltovskoye district hit the infrastructure that is “critically important for the normal life of the city”. According to the mayor, the strike on the Cholodnogorsk district hit a local business. “Information about the damage and casualties is becoming clear,” he stated. The Guardian website reports on it. Related article Related article Canadian colonel: Russia must leave Crimea as well, only then can we restore relations Read The headquarters of the pro-Russian movement was destroyed in Melitopol The Ukrainian army also took action in the city of Melitopol in the south of the country, which is also occupied by the Russians and where they are also preparing a referendum on joining the region to Russia. Ukrainian forces blew it up here the staff of the pro-Russian political movement, a member of the occupation administration of Zaporozhsk ob lasti Vladimir Rogov. The explosion in the headquarters of the pro-Russian movement was also confirmed by the mayor of the city, Ivan Fedorov, who is loyal to Kyiv. “We are one step away from the pseudo-referendum.” The explosion in Melitopol is equal to minus one staff of United Russia (the Russian government party, note),” wrote Fedorov on the Telegram social network. The explosion in the Melitopol center of the movement called We are together with Russia took place on Wednesday evening. For the functioning of this movement, which was created after Russia took control of Melitopol and other Ukrainian territories, overseen by the Russian ruling party United Russia. Ukraine claims to have carried out more than 30 attacks In total, according to the command of the Ukrainian army, the Ukrainian air force has carried out more than 30 attacks on the strongholds of the Russian army and groupings in the past 24 hours Russian soldiers. Ukrainian air defenses destroyed two planes, two helicopters and five drones in various places, the Ukrainian General Staff specified. The United States promises Ukraine long-term aid. American President Joe Biden approved another package of military aid to Ukraine in the amount of 675 million dollars, including ammunition for HIMARS salvo missile systems.At the beginning of Thursday’s meeting of the contact group for Ukraine at the American Ramstein Air Base in Germany, US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin announced this. Austin also said that Ukraine can still be sure of the continuation of Western long-term military assistance. He added that in addition to the supply of weapons, this also concerns the long-term training of the Ukrainian armed forces. He called them an inspiration for how the country is determined to defend its freedom and democracy. “We are here because we reject a world where powers change borders by force,” Austin said. “The face of war has changed, and so has the mission of our contact group,” the US minister said, adding that the assistance to Ukraine will be long-term. “We will work on training Ukrainian forces in the long term. We will work together to integrate Ukrainian capacities and strengthen joint operations in in the long term. We will work together to strengthen our arms industry bases so that they can meet Ukrainian requirements in the long term. We will work together in production and innovation to meet Ukraine’s defense needs in the long term,” declared Austin. Austin also said that the aid Other democratic countries also provide Ukraine with tanks and key heavy weapons. He explicitly mentioned, among other things, Slovakia. According to the US Secretary of Defense, the successes of the Ukrainian army, supported by arms supplies from the West, are obvious. “We see the success of our efforts on the battlefield,” he said. He said that even though Russia continues to brutally shell Ukrainian cities, the Ukrainian army was able to launch a counteroffensive in the south of the country. He added that Russian aggression is nothing more than an illegal, imperial and indefensible war of conquest. War in Ukraine