Ukrainian troops continued their gradual advance in the south of the country on Wednesday, waiting for a new consignment of US military aid for the counteroffensive to cover the entire front line.. “Ukrainian forces continue to carry out offensive operations in the direction of Melitopol and Berdiansk and gradually advance,” Ukrainian Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar wrote on Telegram.
The offensive actions of Ukraine in the Zaporizhia region, which is home to the largest nuclear power plant in Europe, were recognized on Wednesday by the local authorities imposed by Moscow.
Thus, the Russian representative in Zaporizhia, Vladimir Rogov, admitted that the enemy forces managed to temporarily “embed themselves” in three points of the Russian defensive line, but “they did not enter (the village of) Robotyne”. He assured that “the attack by the Ukrainian Armed Forces was repulsed.”
The Moscow-appointed governor of the region, Yevgeny Balitski, also warned of the Ukrainian offensive in the region that began at dawn and ran into Russian “strong resistance,” he said.. The situation in the area is “tense” and the enemy suffers “significant losses”, he added on Telegram.
The Russian Ministry of Defense assured for its part that all Ukrainian attacks in this area have been repelled.. “During the last day, an enemy attack was repelled on the Zaporizhia front, in the direction of Robotyne,” military spokesman Igor Konashenkov said in his daily report.
RUSSIA STRIKES BACK IN DONBAS
Konashenkov also reported that Russian troops were advancing for the second day in a row on the Liman front, in Lugansk.. On Tuesday, Russia announced the seizure of the Lugansk village of Serhiivka, which it had lost in autumn 2022.
Ukraine has not recognized the loss of control over that town and assured today that it continues to “stop the advance of Russian troops in the direction of Kupiansk and Liman.”
“The enemy clings to every meter of the occupied land, puts up strong resistance, uses reserves and suffers heavy losses,” Maliar said.
US ANIA AIR BATTERIES
Meanwhile, Washington reported the granting of a new military aid package to Ukraine worth 400 million dollars with anti-aircraft and anti-tank batteries, among other materials.
The US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, indicated that with this aid the US wants to strengthen Ukraine on the battlefield, in addition to helping it retake the territory lost to Russia and defend its citizens.. From the Pentagon they specified that the aid also contains ammunition for Patriot batteries and the National Advanced Ground-Air Missile Systems, called NASAMS.
1,700 more drones for Ukraine
In addition, in Ukraine today they announced the prompt delivery of 1,700 new drones.. “We supported the counteroffensive by sending 1,700 drones to the front.. Among them, assault and reconnaissance devices,” the Minister of Digital Transformation, Mikhailo Fedorov, wrote on Telegram.
According to the minister, the unmanned vehicles are using artificial intelligence, which will make it possible to more effectively detect and neutralize enemy targets.
Simultaneously, Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said the government will allocate some 40 billion hryvnias ($1 billion) this year to local drone manufacturers.
“War presents us with new challenges every day and one of the keys is military technology.. We must stay one step ahead of the enemy and protect each of our soldiers.. Drones provide those opportunities,” he said.
According to CNN, Moscow is also committed to these weapons and is building a factory in the Russian Republic of Tatarstan to produce Iranian Shahed drones on its territory, which have been used in Ukraine for almost a year.