2023-04-28 15:53:00
Ukraine stated that the military preparations for the counteroffensive against the Russian positions in the east and south of the country “are coming to an end”, anticipating the start of a new phase of the war that continued this Friday with new bombardments of the Kremlin over several Ukrainian cities that left at least 16 dead.
“The preparations are coming to an end,” declared Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov, referring to the counteroffensive announced months ago to reconquer territories occupied by Russia since the start of the invasion on February 24 last year.
“The equipment was promised, prepared and partially delivered. In a broad sense, we are ready,” he added at a press conference in Kiev, referring to the shipment of Western material, including tanks and armored vehicles, as well as ammunition.
Russia mobilized hundreds of thousands of reservists to maintain its territorial advances in eastern and southern Ukraine and maintains the goal of conquering the entire Donbass
The possibility of a counter-offensive by the Ukrainian army would imply that the war enters a new phase: for months kyiv has claimed that it wants to liberate the areas under Russian control, which amount to about 20% of its territory.
For his part, Russia mobilized hundreds of thousands of reservists to keep up its advances. territory in the east and south of Ukraine and maintains the goal of conquering the entirety of Donbass, an eastern region with a Russian-speaking majority.
Within this framework, the fighting between Russian and Ukrainian troops is concentrated in the east of the country, where a battle for control of the town of Bakhmut has been going on for months, which is almost completely destroyed.
Russian Deputy Prime Minister Marat Khusnullin said he had visited Bakhmut and vowed that Russia will rebuild the town, the AFP news agency reported.
Meanwhile, several large Russian attackswhich were the first since the beginning of March, hit some Ukrainian cities this morning.
At least seven people died in the city of the same name after the bus in which they were traveling was attacked by Ukrainian troops
In Uman, a town of about 80,000 in the center of the country, at least 14 people were killed after a missile hit a residential building, according to the Interior Ministry.
In Dnipro, in central-eastern Ukraine, another attack caused two deaths, according to the mayor, Boris Filatov, who reported that the victims are a woman and a three-year-old boy.
While in kyiv a power line was cut by falling debris which also caused damage to a highway, according to authorities, and in the town of Ukrainka, near the capital, shrapnel from a downed missile fell on a building, injuring a girl who had to be hospitalized, according to the local governor. .
For his part, Russia claimed the attacks were against military targets and not against civilians.
“Russian aerospace forces launched a salvo of high-precision-armed missiles (…) against the temporary deployment points of the reserve units of the Ukrainian armed forces,” the Russian Defense Ministry said, adding that “all the assigned objectives were achieved.
Total, the Ukrainian army reported that it shot down “21 missiles X-101/X-555 cruisers out of a total of 23 and two drones”.
“Russian terror must have an adequate response from Ukraine and from the world. And so it will be,” Ukrainian President Volodimir Zelensky said after the bombings.
“Every such attack, every evil act against our country and our people brings the terrorist state closer to failure and punishment,” the Ukrainian president said on Telegram.
On the other hand, the pro-Russian leader in the Donetsk province, Denis Pushilin, denounced that at least seven people, including a minor, died in the city of the same name after the bus they were traveling in was attacked by Ukrainian troops, the Sputnik news agency reported.
“Today the central districts of the capital were targeted by another brutal attack by Ukrainian armed units. Ukrainian armed groups attacked a hospital, a park and residential buildings. According to preliminary data, seven people, including a child, died from of the impact (of a missile) against a bus,” the separatist official wrote on his Telegram channel.
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