Russia: Vladimir Putin affirms that the counter-offensive in Ukraine has already begun, but for now “it has failed”

The announced counteroffensive of Ukraine to recover the territories occupied by Moscow has already begun, but it did not achieve “its objectives,” Russian President Vladimir Putin said this Friday, at a time when fighting is raging in the south of the country and Kiev continues to make no pronouncement on its strategy .

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“We can fully affirm that this offensive has begun,” Putin declared in a video broadcast by Telegram. “Ukrainian troops did not achieve their objective on any of the battlefields,” he said.

putin He stated that “all counter-offensive efforts so far have failed, but the kyiv regime still has offensive potential.”

This Friday, the United States announced that it will hand over Ukraine a new $2.1 billion military aid package, including ammunition for Patriot air defense systems, artillery shells, drones and ammunition for laser-guided rocket systems.

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Russian authorities report heavy fighting in the Zaporizhia region of southern Ukraine, but say they have repelled several Ukrainian attacks.

“During the last 24 hours the forces ukrainian they continued their attempts to carry out offensives in the Yujno-Donetsk and Zaporizhia regions,” the Russian Defense Ministry said, adding that these attempts were rejected.

Shortly before, Vladimir Rogov, a person in charge of the Russian occupation, had reported the resumption of “active fighting in the Orejovo region (the Russian place name of Orijiv) and Tokmak”, in the Zaporizhia region, at the height of the current line head-on between Russian and Ukrainian forces.

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The Ukrainian authorities and the army, bolstered by shipments of Western material, are keeping a low profile and have not commented on the claims of Russia.

Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelenskypraised in his daily address the “heroism” of his troops, who face “tough combat.”

– Drone attack –

The Ukrainian counteroffensive has already begun, estimated numerous observers, including the US think tank Institute for the Study of War (ISW), which does not expect “a single major operation”, but a series of coordinated actions. .

In these last few weeks, Ukraine it has tested Russian positions along the front line, from south to east, a way, experts say, of sowing uncertainty before carrying out a decisive attack.

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Inside Russian territory, in the city of Voronezh, about 200 km from the border with Ukraine, three people were injured this Friday when a drone crashed into a residential building, local authorities said.

In the southern regions of Kherson and Mykolaiv, floods caused by the destruction of the Kakhovka dam on the Dnieper River on Tuesday left at least 13 dead: eight in Russian-controlled areas and five in Ukrainian ones, where they also there are 13 missing.

“According to the forecasts, the rising waters can still last 10 days,” said Vladimir Saldo, head of the part occupied by Moscow in the region, named by Russia.

– “I’m going out to see if the water continues to rise” –

Tatiana Yoenko, a 45-year-old woman living in Chornobaivka, said that “the water has already entered the houses and the streets.” “Every two hours I go out to see if the water is still rising,” she said.

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On the other side of the river, “35 towns are still flooded on the left bank, but the water is gradually receding,” said Oleksandr Prokudin, the regional head of the Ukrainian administration.

In Kherson, on the right bank of the Dnieper, “the level was 5.38 meters this morning, and in the afternoon it dropped to about 5 meters,” he added on Telegram.

kyiv and Moscow they blame each other for the destruction of the dam.

The head of European diplomacy, Josep Borrellestimated Friday that “everything seems to indicate” that the Russians destroyed the facility.

The Norwegian seismology institute Norsar reported that it detected an “explosion” coming from the Ukrainian region where the Kajovka dam is located at the time of its destruction, without settling the debate.

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On the judicial front, the International Court of Justice in The Hague authorized this Friday several countries allied with Ukraine to participate in the pending case against Russia by the invasion that began in February 2022.

Meanwhile, Iceland announced the temporary closure as of August 1 of its embassy in Russiabecoming the first country to make such a decision since the start of the war.

Source: Elcomercio

jack

I am Jack Morton and I work in 24 News Recorder. I mostly cover world news and I have also authored 24 news recorder. I find this work highly interesting and it allows me to keep up with current events happening around the world.