MOskow has dismissed as “lies” Ukrainian allegations about hundreds of graves near the eastern Ukraine city of Izyum. “These are lies. We will, of course, defend the truth in this story,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Monday. According to Ukrainian authorities, more than 440 graves and one mass grave were discovered after Ukrainian units recaptured the Izyum area, which had long been occupied by Russian troops.
Since the beginning of the Russian intervention in Ukraine, Russia has repeatedly denied having committed atrocities there. “It’s the same scenario as in Bucha,” Peskov said Monday, referring to another Ukrainian city near Kyiv, where Russian units were also accused of atrocities after they left. However, reports by journalists and human rights organizations document the Russian deeds.
Russian Air Force is said to have lost four fighter jets
Die Russian Air Force is coming under increasing pressure in the war against Ukraine, according to British estimates. In the past ten days, Russia has apparently lost four fighter jets and thus a total of 55 machines since the attack began in late February. This was announced by the Ministry of Defense in London on Monday, citing intelligence findings.
The spike in casualties may be partly due to the Russian Air Force taking greater risks to provide close-range support to ground forces under pressure from Ukrainian advances, it said. Added to this is the poor situational awareness of Russian pilots. Some planes got into denser air defense zones because of the fast-moving front over Ukrainian-controlled territory.
“Russia’s ongoing lack of air superiority remains one of the key factors underpinning the fragility of its operational design in Ukraine,” the ministry said.
The British Ministry of Defense has published daily information on the course of the war since the beginning of the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine at the end of February, citing intelligence information. In doing so, the British government wants to both counter the Russian portrayal and keep allies in line. Moscow accuses London of a targeted disinformation campaign.
13 civilians killed in Donetsk
In the eastern Ukrainian city controlled by pro-Russian separatists Donetsk According to the mayor, 13 people were killed by artillery fire. They are civilians and two children are among the dead, writes Russian-backed mayor Alexei Kulemsin on Telegram. The number of injured is not yet known. The Ukrainian military has positioned itself in the outskirts of Donetsk. The city has been shelled repeatedly in recent months.
Ukraine reports attack on Pivdennoukraijinsk nuclear power plant
Ukraine, meanwhile, reports Russian ones Attacks on the Pivdennoukrainsk nuclear power plant In the south of the country. All three reactors of the nuclear power plant remained undamaged and functioned normally, the state operator Energoatom said. There was a detonation 300 meters away from the reactors. Buildings were damaged, and the attack also caused damage to a nearby hydroelectric power station.
The current situation in Ukraine
Source: Infographic WORLD
In recent weeks, repeated shelling of the Russian-occupied Zaporizhia nuclear power plant in southern Ukraine has caused great international concern. Russia and Ukraine blamed each other for the shelling.
Zelenskyj announces new offensive
Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced new attacks on Russian-held territory in Ukraine. “Perhaps it seems to some of you that after a series of victories there has been silence, but it is not silence,” Zelenskyy said in his daily video address on Sunday. Rather, it is the Preparation for the next offensive, the aim of which is the recapture of Mariupol, Melitopol and Kherson be.
According to Zelenskyy, Ukraine will not only focus on the areas it controlled before the Russian attack in February. The 44-year-old announced that the territories of the Moscow-backed separatists in the east of the country and cities in Crimea, which had been annexed by Russia since 2014, would also be recaptured. “Because all of Ukraine must be free.”
After invading Ukraine on February 24, Russia has seized large areas in the south and east of the country. Moscow currently still occupies around 125,000 square kilometers – that’s about a fifth of Ukraine’s territory including the Crimean Peninsula.
Kyiv rejects negotiations as pointless
Kyiv concluded negotiations and a meeting by Russian Presidents Vladimir Putin and Zelenskyy out at this point. “In short, the negotiation process itself and a face-to-face meeting between the presidents doesn’t make sense right now,” external adviser to the head of the Ukrainian presidential office, Mykhailo Podoliak, said, according to Ukrainian media.
Podoljak gave three reasons why talks are pointless at this stage. First, Russia will try to record and legitimize land gains. Second, maintaining the status quo is only serving Russia as a breathing space so that it can then continue the attacks on the new line. And third, Russia must be held accountable for crimes committed on Ukrainian territory.
Negotiations are therefore only possible once the Russian troops have withdrawn from Ukrainian territory. Then the level of reparation payments and the handing over of war criminals could be negotiated, Podoljak said. Russia and Ukraine had negotiated a peace settlement shortly after the Russian invasion, but had not come to a final agreement.
Beachhead for a possible continuation of the offensive
Kyiv draws its self-confidence from its own recent offensive in the north of the country. Most of the Kharkiv region was liberated. The Russian troops built the new front on the east bank of the river Oskil up, but this line also seems to wobble. According to their own statements, the Ukrainian military was able to cross troop units on the river and thus form a bridgehead to the east.
“The Ukrainian forces have overcome the Oskil. Since yesterday, Ukraine has also controlled the left bank,” the press office of the Ukrainian Armed Forces said on Sunday via video on its Telegram channel. Earlier there were reports that Kyiv had secured control of the eastern part of the city of Kupyansk. The information cannot be verified independently.
In their counter-offensive at the beginning of September, the Ukrainian forces in the Kharkov region advanced as far as the Oskil. Behind, the retreating Russian troops established a new front line and repelled several attempts by Ukrainians to cross the river. Establishing a beachhead on the east side of the Oskil would be a strategically important achievement for Ukrainian troops. This would allow them to continue their attack towards the Luhansk region. The military did not provide any information about the exact location of the river crossing.
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