Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has visited Ukrainian troops taking part in Kyiv’s counteroffensive in the Zaporizhia region, his office said in a statement on Tuesday.
“During a business trip to the Zaporizhzhia region, the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy visited the positions of the brigades participating in the offensive operations in the Melitopol sector,” his office said.
Zelensky met with the commander of the strategic and operational group of Tavria troops, Oleksandr Tarnavskyi, as well as several units, including the 3rd operational brigade.
“The brigade participated in combat missions in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, in defensive battles for Kharkiv, in the liberation of towns and cities near Kharkiv, and is currently conducting offensive operations in the direction of Zaporizhia,” Zelensky wrote in your Telegram account. “We discussed the most problematic issues with the brigade commander.”
The President of Ukraine also visited “the 47th separate mechanized brigade ‘Magura’, the 117th separate mechanized brigade, the 15th operational brigade named after the hero of Ukraine Lieutenant Bohdan Zavada of the National Guard of Ukraine, the 65th separate mechanized brigade, the 116th separate mechanized brigade, as well as the front-line command posts of the 46th separate airmobile brigade of the Air Assault Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and the 118th separate mechanized brigade,” according to his office.
Zelensky received briefings from commanders on the status of the offensive and discussed the needs and problems facing each brigade, his office said.
“In particular, the military stressed the need for electronic warfare means and front-line air defense systems to counter enemy aviation and UAVs,” the statement said. “UAVs are also needed as they are quickly consumed in offensive operations.”
“Volodymyr Zelensky and the commanders of the military units discussed the issues of professional selection of people, the provision of brigades with special equipment and machinery, and the need for evacuation armored vehicles,” the president’s office added.
1 hour ago
Ukraine reinforces its positions east of Kharkiv, according to a military spokesman
By Kostan Nechyporenko, Vasco Cotovio
Ukraine reinforced its positions east of Kharkiv along the Lyman-Kupiansk axis, according to Serhii Cherevatyi, deputy commander for strategic communications at the eastern military grouping.
“The Lyman-Kupiansk axis was under the special control of the commander (commander of the Ukrainian land forces Oleksandr Syrskyi, who is also in command of the grouping of forces in the east, covering Bakhmut, Lyman, Kupiansk). He personally went to all the key brigades that ensured a firm defense there,” Cherevatyi told Ukrainian national television.
“He gave direct, strict and clear orders to build an echelon defense. Our firing positions were reinforced, (the command) provided certain methodological recommendations and redeployed reserves,” Cherevatyi said.
“Everything was done to make it impossible for the enemy to advance,” he added.
Some context: Russian forces had recently attempted to break through Ukrainian defenses in the area, with limited gains.
Mandatory evacuation of Kupiansk and its surroundings was ordered last week as Russia intensified shelling of the Kharkiv region of Ukraine in the north-east of the country.
1 hour ago
At least 19 injured in Russian attacks on Lviv
By Kostan Nechyporenko, Vasco Cotovio
A building destroyed during a Russian missile attack in Lviv, Ukraine, on August 15. (Photo: State Emergency Service of Ukraine/Reuters)
Russian missile strikes in Ukraine’s western Lviv region overnight caused at least 19 injuries, including a 10-year-old boy, and extensive damage to civilian infrastructure.
The attacks also led to the hospitalization of five people, according to the head of the Lviv regional military administration.
Kyiv’s air defenses shot down one of the Russian cruise missiles launched at the western region, Maksym Kozytskyi wrote on Telegram on Tuesday. Six other missiles were not intercepted.
“The Russians attacked our region with cruise missiles between 5:20 and 5:30 in the morning (10:20 and 10:30 ET),” Kozytskyi said. “Fortunately, no one was killed in this missile attack.”
The youngest civilian to be injured was 10 years old, while the oldest was 72, Kozytskyi continued.
“Most of the victims had scratches and cuts from broken windows and bruises,” Kozytskyi said, adding that some 40 houses were damaged.
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Putin says US foreign policy adds “fuel to the fire”
