The Ukrainian president, Volodímir Zelenski, added during his European tour, new diplomatic and arms support for his government, whose forces are advancing in the framework of the counter-offensive in the south of the country.
Only this Tuesday Zelenski reported meetings with authorities from Serbia, the European Union (EU), North Macedonia and Croatia during his stay in Athens, where he arrived after visiting Sweden, the Netherlands and Denmark.
“A productive meeting with Volodimir Zelensky. We discussed Ukraine’s progress on the path towards the EU, as well as our continued support in the face of Russian aggression,” said the President of the European Commission, Ursula Von der Leyen, for her part. in a message on the social network X (formerly Twitter).
Meanwhile, Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic promised that his country will provide Ukraine with a new military aid package worth 30 million euros (32.5 million dollars).
(Also read: Zelensky extends martial law and mobilization until November 15).
Zelensky also secured political and defense support from North Macedonia, a country he thanked “preparing a new military aid package” for kyiv.
However, Zelensky’s main diplomatic achievement during his stay in Athens has been the meeting with Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, who until now had avoided showing support for Kiev due to the good relationship between Serbia and Russia.
According to the Ukrainian president, the conversation with Vucic, who reiterated his support for Ukraine’s territorial integrity, was “open, honest and fruitful.”
(Keep reading: Ukraine detains woman accused of helping Russia to plot attack on Zelensky.)
Greece, host of the meetings held by the Ukrainian leader, has promised to participate in the training of Ukrainian F-16 fighter pilots, which will begin this month and is expected to end in early 2024.
Simultaneously, Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksi Reznikov was confident that kyiv would have its first F-16s within “six or seven months.”
“We received the Patriot (missiles) in 10 weeks, instead of 10 months, and the 155-mm caliber artillery in three weeks, instead of the three months” (initially announced), said Reznikov, who assured that this will be due to the great learning capacity of the Ukrainian forces.
We received the Patriot (missiles) in 10 weeks, instead of 10 months, and the 155mm caliber artillery in three weeks, instead of three months.
Meanwhile, on the battlefield, the gradual progress of the Ukrainian army continues, which today confirmed the presence of its troops in the town of Robotyne in the southern province of Zaporizhia.
That small Ukrainian town is located about 20 kilometers north of Tokmak, an important communications hub, control of which is key to Kiev’s plans to cut the land corridor linking the Crimean peninsula with mainland Russia. “Our fighters are in the village of Robotyne,” Brigadier General Oleksandr Tarnavski wrote on Telegram.
“Our fighters are in the village of Robotyne,” Brigadier General Oleksandr Tarnavski wrote on Telegram.
Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar also reported the entry into Robotyne of the 47th Brigade of the Ukrainian Army and the evacuation of civilians from the area.
The presence of Ukrainian troops in that strategic location was also confirmed today by the American Institute for the Study of War (ISW) on the basis of geolocated images.
However, the Russian authorities on Tuesday denied the Ukrainian progress in the south and downplayed the presence of kyiv troops in Robotyne.
According to the Russian Ministry of Defense, its troops, with the support of aviation and artillery, repelled four attacks next to the towns of Uspenivka and Robotyne, both in the Zaporizhia region.
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One of the representatives of Moscow in the occupied region, for his part, assured that the Russian soldiers “drove” the enemy from the center of Robotyne. “Currently there is heavy fighting in the village and Ukrainian forces are in the northern suburbs of the town,”
EFE
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