Ukraine continues to advance towards the south, the Kiev counter-offensive produces results in the war against Russia. Ukrainian troops hoist the flag on the left bank of the Dnipro and tighten the circle around Bakhmut, who risks turning into a trap for Russian soldiers, according to the latest news and updates provided by Kiev. Meanwhile, the United States is launching another military aid package for 250 million dollars.
COUNTER-OFFENSE, STEPS FORWARD
Compared to the stalemate of recent months, the Ukrainian armed forces claim progress on the southern front. “We are pushing the enemy back,” said the commander of the troops deployed in the Zaporizhzhya region, Brigadier General Oleksandr Tarnavsky. Ukrainian troops broke through the first line of Russian defense by capturing the village of Robotyne and are now attacking the next line blocking the road to the occupied cities of Tokmak and Melitopol. The goal is to reach the Sea of u200bu200bAzovsome 90 kilometers apart, and isolate Russian troops from each other, Tarnavsky added.
However, the situation remains complex. In the strategically important area of Tokmak, the soldiers of Kiev and Moscow are massed in large numbers in a relatively limited area. The updates arriving from the front describe often confused troop movements, with units advancing almost unconsciously beyond enemy trenches before realizing their position.
If Kiev forces advance into Robotyne and Verbove area, in Novoprokopivka fighting rages and the Russians defend their positionsthanks also to the sending of reserve units which, according to independent analysts, are being transferred from other areas of the country.
The spotlights are once again on Bakhmut, the city that was at the center of the war throughout the winter. According to Hanna Maliar, Ukrainian Deputy Minister of Defence, the soldiers of Kiev have seized positions “on many heights” and the Russian army is blocked in the area: “They cannot get out of Bakhmut and they cannot move to the outskirts of the city. They are trying to create diversions and force us to make efforts in other directions”.
DRONE WAR
Ukraine and Russia, in the Zaporizhzhia region and beyond, make extensive use of reconnaissance drones to decipher the field. The Ukrainian defense and security forces lose an average of 40-45 devices a day, as explained by Yurii Shchyhol, head of the Ukrainian state communication service, specifying that these are “Mavic, Matrix and larger devices of Ukrainian manufacture and foreign”.
“This war has changed the approach in the use of drones. We do our best to provide the necessary amount. We buy almost everything that is available on the market,” explains Shchyhol, quoted by CNN, recalling that “more than 22,000 attack drones have been commissioned to date and about 15,000 have already been handed over to the Armed Forces of Ukraine.”
NEW US AID
There are no drones in the new military aid package announced by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken. The supply – according to a statement – includes new demining equipment, air defense missiles, artillery ammunition and over 3 million small arms shells. The new aid package is worth $250 millionaccording to what was announced by the State Department in Washington.
According to the Defense Department, the United States has provided or pledged more than $43 billion in military aid to Kiev since the start of the war to the end of February 2022.
“Russia started this war and could end it at any moment by withdrawing its forces from Ukraine and stopping its brutal attacks,” Blinken says. “Until that happens, the United States and our allies and partners will stand by Ukraine, for as long as necessary.”
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