Ukrainian Deputy Defense Minister Ganna Maliar said on Sunday July 2 that Ukrainians and Russians were engaged in “hard fights”. Russian forces are indeed advancing on four areas of the frontline in eastern Ukraine. “The enemy is advancing in the areas of Avdiivka, Mariinka, Lyman,” the deputy minister wrote on Telegram. “It’s also advancing in the Svatovoe sector. »
“The situation is quite difficult,” she continued. “There is fierce fighting everywhere. She said Ukrainian troops for their part were advancing with “partial success” on the southern flank of the city of Bakhmut in the east, as well as near Berdyansk and Melitopol in the southern area of ??the front.
These latest developments on the frontline come after another nighttime airborne explosive drone attack on kyiv, the first in 12 days, according to Ukrainian officials. “All enemy targets in the airspace around Kiev have been detected and destroyed,” said Sergiy Popko, head of the capital’s military administration.
The Ukrainian Air Force, in a separate statement, said it had shot down eight Iranian-made Sahed explosive drones, and three cruise missiles.
The commander-in-chief of the Ukrainian army Valery Zalouzhny had estimated, in an interview published Friday by the Washington Post, that the forces of kyiv were restrained by a lack of armament. He had in particular demanded the delivery of American F-16 fighter planes, essential to counter the Russian air force.
“We don’t need 120 planes. I’m not going to threaten the entire planet. A small number will be enough,” he told the American daily. “But they are necessary, there is no other way.” »
He also lamented a lack of artillery in the face of the deluge of Russian fire. “By the time the decisions are made, it is obvious that many people are dying, every day, and in large numbers. Simply because decisions are not made right away,” he insisted.
