Russian forces attacked the central Ukrainian city of Dnipro and a crucial southeastern town that Kiev claimed to have recaptured in its counteroffensive, wounding at least 9, while Moscow accused the Ukrainian government of firing two missiles south of Ukraine. Russia, in Taganrog, which injured 20 people, when 521 days of war in Ukraine have been completed.
For his part, President Volodimir Zelensky commemorated Ukrainian Statehood Day, a celebration that reaffirms national sovereignty and reproaches Russian President Vladimir Putin, who justified his invasion by saying that Ukraine did not exist as a country.
Recent fighting has taken place at various locations along the 1,000-kilometer front, where Ukraine has used recently received Western weaponry to drive out Kremlin forces.. However, it attacks without vital air support and faces a well-entrenched enemy.
A Western official said Ukraine had launched a major offensive in the southeast.. Putin acknowledged that fighting has intensified there, but insisted that the kyiv assault has failed.
The United States believes that the recent visit of the Russian Defense Minister, Sergei Shoigu, to North Korea, where he met with President Kim Jong Un, seeks to ensure the supply of weapons, necessary for the invasion of Ukraine.
“We will have to wait for the detailed analysis of what happened at the Summit; to see where Putin's caps stop. At the end of the article, it stands out that only 17 delegations of the 54 called have been headed by presidents, 10 by prime ministers and the rest by lower-rank representatives. The coded reading of the external weakening of the Putinian regime is unavoidable. I mean, good news.. But no substantive geopolitical change can be inferred. Our African partners will continue to be tactical, seeking agreements and eclectic solutions”, analyzes Ana Palacio, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Government of Spain between 2002 and 2004, the second Russia-Africa Summit and Economic and Humanitarian Forum, held in Saint Petersburg sponsored by President Vladimir Putin, in his rostrum All to Africa.
The commander of the Ukrainian forces, Colonel General Oleksandr Syrskyi, said his soldiers were advancing into Russian-occupied parts of eastern Ukraine and facing stiff resistance.
“The enemy clings fiercely to every inch, firing intense artillery and shell fire,” he said in a statement collected by Ap.
Recent fighting has taken place at various locations along the 1,000-kilometre (more than 600-mile) front, where Ukraine has used recently received Western weaponry to drive out Kremlin forces.. However, it attacks without vital air support and faces a well-entrenched enemy.
A Western official said on Thursday that Ukraine had launched a major offensive in the southeast.. Putin acknowledged that fighting has intensified there, but insisted that the kyiv assault has failed.
A Ukrainian drone was shot down outside Moscow, the Defense Ministry said, in the third attack or attempted attack against the capital region so far this month.. The incident caused no casualties or damage, added the ministry, which did not specify the exact point where the drone fell, reports Ap.
Since the war began, Russia has accused Ukraine of drone, bomb and missile attacks on its territory, far from the front lines.. Ukrainian officials rarely confirm responsibility for such attacks.
The attacks have hit ammunition and fuel depots, as well as bridges that Russian forces use to supply their soldiers, and recruiting stations.. Russian-appointed officials on occupied Ukrainian territory have also been killed in those attacks.
Three months ago, a Russian plane accidentally dropped a bomb on the Russian city of Belgorod, an incident initially blamed on Ukraine and in which two people were injured.
Moscow said it had intercepted two Ukrainian missiles in its southwestern territory.
The remains of one of them caused at least 16 injuries, one seriously, in the city of Taganrog, some 40 kilometers (about 24 miles) east of the border with Ukraine, in the area of an art museum, as it fell. as indicated by the Russian authorities, reports Afp. Other sources such as AP put the number of injured at 20 people.
The ministry said debris fell on the city, and that the missile was part of a “terrorist attack” launched by Ukraine.
Ukrainian Secretary for National Security and Defense Oleksiy Danilov attributed the explosion to Russian anti-aircraft defense.
The Russian Defense Ministry said it shot down a second Ukrainian missile near the city of Azov, which, like Taganrog, is in the Rostov-on-Don region, saying debris fell in an unpopulated area.
At least nine people, including two children, were injured this Friday in a Russian attack that hit a residential building in the city of Dnipro, in central-eastern Ukraine, the country's authorities reported.
“We currently know of nine injuries, including two children. The (rescue) work continues,” said Sergiy Kruk, head of Ukraine's emergency service, on Telegram, Afp collects.
Ukrainian Interior Minister Igor Klymenko had reported “a Russian shelling on a multi-storey building in Dnipro”.
Ukrainian lawmaker Oleksandr Bakumov said on Telegram that the city was the target of a Russian “missile attack.”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky added that the building housing the Ukrainian security services in Dnipro was also hit by shelling.
“Russian missiles spread terror again,” he commented on Telegram, vowing to act so that Russia “responds for its actions” and is “punished.”
In some videos broadcast on social networks and Ukrainian media, the top floors of a residential complex are seen with destruction and smoke, and the patio full of rubble.
The governor of the Dnipropetrovsk region, Sergiy Lysak, mentioned an arson attack on 100 square meters in an “administrative building”.
Ukraine has taken another small step in its goal of pushing the occupying forces towards the Azov Sea by seizing control of Staromaiorske in southwestern Donetsk Oblast, while continuing to try to decimate Russian defenses to create the conditions for a larger-scale mechanized attack.
According to the Ukrainian reserve colonel Sergui Grabski, having recaptured the municipality improves Ukraine's tactical position and allows it to approach the second line of Russian defense in the southeastern part of the front, which is protected by land fortifications and is, a priori, the most difficult for the Kiev troops to overcome, reports Efe.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Saturday that the United States believed the Russian defense minister was in North Korea to ensure supplies of weapons needed for the bogged down invasion of Ukraine, reports Afp.
After a rare visit to Pyongyang by Sergei Shoigu, Russia's defense minister, Antony Blinken said that Russia was surrounding its allies to stock up on weapons.
“I highly doubt he's on holiday there,” Blinken told the Australian press.
“We see Russia desperately seeking support, weapons, wherever it can find them, to continue its aggression against Ukraine,” he added.
“We see it in North Korea, we also see it with Iran, which has provided Russia with many drones, which they use to destroy civilian infrastructure and kill civilians in Ukraine,” he said.
While in North Korea, Shoigu met with the country's leader Kim Jong Un in “a 'friendly' talk,” according to Pyongyang state media.
Russia, a historical ally of North Korea, is one of the few countries with which Pyongyang maintains friendly relations.