Ukraine has entrenched in retaken positions in the south to advance towards the Azov Sea coast, while Russian forces try to expand their gains in the east, where a Russian bombardment last night left at least seven dead and more than 80 injured.
“The enemy made unsuccessful attempts to recover lost positions” in the southern region of Zaporizhia, says the latest part of the General Staff of the Ukrainian Army.
Meanwhile, the Kiev forces continued “offensive actions on the Melitopol and Berdiansk fronts”, where they entrenched themselves in the conquered positions, it adds.
Information about the gradual Ukrainian advances in the south was also highlighted in the latest report by the Institute for the Study of War (ISW), which indicates that the Kiev forces continued their counterattacks on at least two sectors of the front.
Simultaneously, Russian and Ukrainian troops continue fighting in the east, where two Russian missiles hit a residential building in Pokrovsk in the Donetsk region tonight.
The bombardment, according to official kyiv sources, left at least seven dead and more than 80 injured.
The president of Ukraine, Volodimir Zelenski, denounced that Russia “tries to leave Donetsk turned into ruins and charred stones.”
“It is necessary to stop Russian terror. All those who fight for the freedom of Ukraine save human lives. All those in the world who help Ukraine will defeat the terrorists together with us. Russia will answer for everything it has done in this horrible war,” he said on Telegram.
According to regional authorities, Russian attacks have claimed the lives of 1,645 Donestk residents and injured 3,939 since the war began.
Moscow, for its part, reported that it had attacked a Ukrainian Army command post near the city of Pokrovsk (Kransnoarmeisk for the Russians).
In addition, the Russian war report today talks about the situation on the Kupyansk front (Kharkov region), where Russian troops occupied “more advantageous positions.”
In an attempt to support the Ukrainian counteroffensive, now over two months old, the United States approved the first batch of Abrams tanks promised to kyiv.
This announcement comes after the shipment of the armored vehicles was officially approved in early August, although the go-ahead for their supplies came last January, after months of hesitation and diplomatic wrangling.
“They have to get to Europe and then Ukraine, along with all the things that go with them,” said Doug Bush, the US Army’s undersecretary for acquisition, logistics and technology.
He specified that he refers to “ammunition, spare parts, fuel equipment, repair facilities”, because “it is not just about the tanks, but everything that accompanies them.”
Currently, German Leopards and British Challengers operate on the battlefields in Ukraine, as well as different versions of Soviet tanks, which are used by both sides.
In parallel, the Office of the Ukrainian President published the detailed Zelensky Peace Formula, which consists of 10 points and was discussed over the weekend in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
“Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity is the basis of the Formula,” Zelensky’s chief of staff Andri Yermak wrote today.
The initiative represents a road map for the cessation of hostilities that demands the “immediate withdrawal” and without conditions of the Russian troops.
Other points contained in the Peace Formula, according to the published text, are the return of prisoners and civilians deported to Russia, as well as the need to guarantee nuclear, energy, environmental and food security.
According to Moscow, Zelensky’s plan “has nothing to do with peace” and only seeks to prolong the conflict.
According to the criteria of The Trust Project