The military campaign launched by Russia in Ukraine five months ago it has turned against all initial forecasts into a strenuous attrition fight due to the resistance of kyiv, supported by the West, in which at the moment there is no winner in sight.
According to the General Staff of Ukraine, after the advances of the Russian troops, which in recent weeks allowed them to take control of practically the entire eastern region, the situation on the fronts has stabilized.
YOU CAN SEE: North Korea accuses the US of manufacturing biological weapons in Ukraine and ignoring treaties
Artillery fire, no progress on the ground
The Russian Ministry of Defense indirectly confirmed this assessment in its report today, in which it limits itself to reporting aviation actions and missile attacks and artillery fire against Ukrainian troop positions, without mentioning any progress on its ground forces.
The spokesman for that portfolio, General Igor Konashénkovreported in his daily press appearance that in the last 24 hours in Lugansk a total of nine command posts of the Ukrainian forces were destroyed, as well as seven ammunition and fuel depots in different regions of Ukraine.
“Near the town of Artemivsk, in the Donetsk People’s Republic, Russian aircraft annihilated two units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, numbering up to one company, and two US M777 howitzers,” said the Russian military officer.
YOU CAN SEE: Zelensky accused Russia of breaking promises while Moscow denies being behind Odessa attack
Russia acknowledges attack on Odessa port
The spokesman pointed out that last Saturday Russia attacked with missiles the port of Odesa, in the Black Sea, key for Ukrainian grain exports, on which an agreement had been reached the previous day under the auspices of Turkey and the UN to unblock them. .
He did stress that the missiles hit a military ship, a US Harpoon anti-ship missile depot and a facility for the repair and modernization of Ukrainian Navy ships.
The attack on the port of Odessa drew condemnation from much of the international communityincluding that of the UN Secretary General, António Guterres.
In turn, the President of Ukraine,Volodí Volodymyr Zelensky, He declared that the attack on Odessa “proves only one thing: no matter what Russia promises, it will always find a way not to fulfill it.”
YOU CAN SEE: UN condemns Russian bombings against the Ukrainian port of Odessa after grain agreement
Zelenski stresses support for Ukraine
In a video message to the population, the Ukrainian leader stated that these five months of war the country has received “such great support from the democratic world that Russia cannot oppose anything”.
“The day will come when the missiles will lose all meaning for the occupants. Now it is possible to shoot down part of the rockets. The goal is to shoot them all down,” he said.
Zelensky asserted that the Ukrainian government will do “everything necessary to obtain modern and effective anti-aircraft defense systems” to protect the entire territory of the country.
YOU CAN SEE: War in Ukraine: Russia will allow export of cereals and fertilizers
Ukrainian forces continue pressure on Kherson
Meanwhile, Ukraine today continued attacks in the south against a strategically important bridge for the logistics of Kherson, the capital of the homonymous region, located on the left bank of the river and under the control of Russian troops since last March.
According to the American Institute for the Study of War (ISW), Ukrainian troops are preparing or have already started a counteroffensive in the Kherson region, where they have already taken control of several towns.
On June 19, Zelensky pointed out that the liberation of Kherson is a key objective of the Armed Forces in the south of the country, and since then the kyiv authorities have called on the population of the region to evacuate or prepare shelters in the face of a counteroffensive. ukrainian
“Today morning, with surgical precision as always, the Armed Forces of Ukraine attacked the Darievska Bridge over the Inhulets River. It is the continuation of the operation to cut off the supplies of the Russian military grouping in Kherson,” he wrote on Facebook. Sergey Streetcouncilor of the regional administration.
YOU CAN SEE: “Ukraine may disappear from the world map,” warns former Russian President Dmitri Medvedev
The Himar allow to hit the Russian operational rear
Employing US HIMARS systems, whose high-precision rockets have a range of up to 80 kilometers, Ukrainian forces are hitting supply lines and ammunition depots in the operational rear of Russian troops.
According to the adviser to the Presidency of Ukraine, Myjailo Podoliakthe arrival of the HIMARS significantly changed the course of military actions, in which until a couple of months ago the Russian artillery fired up to 50,000 shells per day.
“Currently, after HIMARS, which can destroy logistics centers and supply depots, have been used, the number of daily shots has decreased by five or six times,” Podoliak said.