Kyiv keeps a low profile with news from the combat zones. But President Zelenskyy makes one thing clear: the situation “remains difficult”, particularly in the Donetsk region. Russian warplanes are apparently also used. In Cherson, the occupiers are supposed to plunder what is not nailed down.
According to Ukrainian sources, the fighting in the war zones of Ukraine remains intense. As Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in his daily video address, there is currently less news from the combat zones. “But that doesn’t mean that the intensity of the fighting has decreased.” The situation is “still difficult”.
“Fierce battles for positions are still going on in some areas,” said Zelenskyy. “And as before, it is especially difficult in the Donetsk region.” The order to the Russian troops to advance to the borders of the administrative area still applies. But, according to Selenskyj: “We are not giving up a single centimeter of our country there.”
Away from the combat zones, intensive work is being done to normalize life in the liberated areas, Zelenskyj said. This applies above all to restoring the gas and electricity supply, for example in the Kharkiv area. And to help the population get through the upcoming winter period, the government has exempted imports of energy supply equipment – such as generators and transformers – from import duties. Russia obviously intends to use the upcoming winter for its own purposes. “We understand clearly: Turning winter into a weapon is the plan of a terrorist state against our state and against the whole of Europe,” said Zelenskyy. “But we are doing everything we can to ensure that this Russian plan fails, like various previous ones.”
Meanwhile, Zelenskyy’s generals reported new rocket and air strikes by the Russian military and further looting. According to the Ukrainian General Staff, both rockets and warplanes were used in the attacks in the Kharkiv, Donetsk, Zaporizhia and Cherson regions. “Critical infrastructure and homes continue to be attacked in violation of international humanitarian law and the rules of warfare,” the military wrote on Facebook. No further details were given on the concrete effects of the attacks.
From the region around the southern Ukrainian city of Cherson, the general staff in Kyiv reported the continued organized looting by Russian soldiers. The day before, convoys with stolen household appliances and building materials had been observed. At the same time, the dismantling of mobile phone masts and other telecommunications systems will continue. In addition, the occupiers took “all the art objects and even the furniture” from the regional museum of the Soviet-Ukrainian artist Oleksiy Shovkunenko. The information provided by both warring parties often cannot be verified independently.
Ukraine’s General Staff accused the authorities of neighboring Belarus of continuing to support Russia’s attacks against Ukrainian targets by providing “infrastructure, territory and airspace”. “The danger remains that the enemy will launch airstrikes with combat drones from the territory and airspace of this country.”
