2023-09-03 10:33:26
Volodymyr Zelensky welcomed this Saturday that the “Ukrainian forces are advancing”, in a message posted on X (ex-Twitter). Ukraine is still pursuing its counter-offensive, and in particular carried out a drone attack on the Crimean bridge on the night of Friday to Saturday, which was unsuccessful. The Kiev army also announced that it had broken through a Russian first line of defense near Zaporizhia in the south-east of the country, Ukrainian General Oleksandr Tarnavsky said. to the British newspaper The Observermedia affiliated with The Guardian newspaper.
This Sunday, September 3, it is on its territory that kyiv recorded a success, after having shot down 22 Russian drones in the Odessa region, in the south of the country.
22 Russian drones shot down in Odessa region
The Ukrainian Air Force announced on Sunday that it had shot down 22 Russian drones in the Odessa region, in the south of the country. “On the night of September 3, 2023, the Russian occupiers launched several waves of Shahed-136/131 drone attacks from the south and southeast,” the Ukrainian Air Force wrote on Telegram, adding that 22 drones had been destroyed out of a total of 25 launched.
These attacks follow the end of the grain agreement between Ukraine and Russia in July, which allowed kyiv to safely export its grain via the Black Sea. Since then, Russia has stepped up attacks on the regions of Odessa and Mykolaiv, in the south of the country, where there are ports and other infrastructure essential for this trade.
Despite Russian obstruction, some Ukrainian ships have still managed to cross the Black Sea in recent weeks. In August, a first freighter managed to reach Istanbul, Turkey. This Saturday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that two new ships had passed through the “temporary grain corridor in the Black Sea” provided by his country.
Russia would “call on citizens of foreign countries to fight”
A note from the British Foreign Office, published this Sunday, September 3, assures that “since the end of June 2023, Russia has been appealing to citizens of neighboring countries through recruitment advertisements to fight in Ukraine”. British intelligence assures that “online advertisements have been observed in Armenia and Kazakhstan, offering upfront payments of 495,000 rubles [5 140 dollars] and salaries from 190,000 rubles [1 973 dollars]”.
Russia is also said to have “approached Central Asian migrants to fight in Ukraine, with the promise of expedited citizenship and salaries of up to $4,160”. Since May, “Russia has had at least six million migrants from Central Asia, whom the Kremlin surely sees as potential recruits.”
Still according to this note, the objective of these recruitments would be to avoid “new unpopular internal mobilization measures in the run-up to the 2024 presidential elections”, and to be able to benefit from additional soldiers for its war effort in the face of “the losses growing” on the ground.
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