The long-awaited offensive of the Ukrainian army is “difficult” but “progressing”, President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Monday, after his administration assured during the day that it had taken back at least seven villages from Russian forces.
“The fights are tough, but we are making progress, and that’s very important,” he said in his daily address. “Enemy casualties are exactly at the level we need.”
“The weather is not favorable – the rain makes our task more difficult – but the strength of our soldiers is giving good results”, he added, welcoming the return of the Ukrainian flag to “newly liberated territories”. .
Earlier in the day, the Ukrainian government had claimed to have taken over seven villages in the south and east of the country since this weekend.
“Seven villages have been liberated,” said Deputy Defense Minister Ganna Malyar on Telegram, referring in particular to several localities taken over in the Zaporizhja region.
Ganna Malyar said that the villages of Lobkovo, Levadne and Novodarivka, near Zaporizhja, had been taken over, as well as the village of Storozheve, in the south of the Donetsk region.
“The area of ??the territory returned to our control amounts to 90 square kilometers,” assured Ms. Malyar.
On Monday afternoon, the Ukrainian army also claimed to have made progress in the Bakhmout region.
– “Several weeks or even months”
“Ukrainian troops have advanced 250 to 700 meters in the direction of Bakhmout,” the defense ministry said.
Moscow for its part claimed to have repelled the Ukrainian attacks in the Donetsk region, near Velyka Novosilka as well as near the village of Levadne, near Zaporizhja.
These claims from Moscow and kyiv could not be independently verified.
According to military analysts, Ukraine has not yet launched the bulk of its forces in its major counter-offensive. She is currently still testing the front with targeted attacks to determine weak points.
In Paris, French President Emmanuel Macron confirmed that the Ukrainian counter-offensive had begun, estimating that it would last “several weeks, even months”.
“The Ukrainian counter-offensive started several days ago,” Macron said. “It is intended to be deployed over several weeks, even several months”, added the French president, assuring “wish” that this counter-offensive be “the most victorious possible in order to then be able to trigger a phase of negotiation in good conditions “.
In Washington, the head of American diplomacy Antony Blinken said he hoped that the success of the offensive could force President Vladimir Putin to negotiate.
“A success of this counter-offensive could do two things: it would strengthen (Ukraine’s) position at the negotiating table and it could have the effect of finally getting Putin to negotiate an end to this war that he has started,” Blinken told reporters.
“In that sense, it could bring peace closer, not further away,” he added.
– “Assess the situation”
According to Mr. Blinken, however, any peace will have to be “sustainable, that is, a peace that does not leave Russia in place and resting, rearming and attacking again in six months, a year or two years later”.
For the experts of the reference American think tank Institute for the study of war (ISW), “Ukrainian forces have made visually verified advances in the west of the province of Donetsk and in the west of the province of Zaporijja, which Russian sources confirmed but sought to downplay.”
In Vienna, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), has also confirmed that its director, Rafael Grossi, would go to Kiev on Tuesday before going to inspect the Ukrainian plant in Zaporijjia, weakened after the destruction of a dam on the Dnieper River.
After kyiv, the head of the IAEA will take over the management of the ZNPP plant occupied by Russian forces “to assess the situation and organize a new rotation of experts”.
Since the beginning of the invasion, he has constantly warned against the risk of a nuclear accident on this site in south-eastern Ukraine, where he has already visited twice.
12/06/2023 23:19:21 – Kiev (Ukraine) (AFP) © 2023 AFP