The Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyrecognized this Friday that the counteroffensive of Kyiv is slowed down by the air superiority of the Russian armyand also criticized the slowdown in the delivery of military aid from Western countries.
“If we are not in heaven and Russia is, they will stop us from heaven. They are slowing down our counteroffensive”the Ukrainian president said at a conference in Kyiv.
Zelensky He also criticized that there are “processes that are increasingly complicated and slow” for the imposition of sanctions or for the delivery of weapons from the West.
“The war has slowed down, we recognize it”added in unusual statements by the Ukrainian president about the limited progress of his army in the east and south of the country.
The Ukrainian counteroffensive, which began in June, is advancing very slowly due to the complex defense line established by the Russian army in the occupied territories, with trenches, minefields and anti-tank traps.
“When our partners ask us ‘what will be the next stages of the counteroffensive?’, my answer is that our stages are faster than the new sanctions packages” against Russiahe explained Zelensky.
Ukraine regularly complains about the slowness of retaliation against Moscow and in the negotiations on the delivery of F-16 fightersAmerican made.
The head of diplomacy United States, Antony Blinkenannounced this week on a visit to the Ukrainian capital new aid from US$1,000 million.
The new North American package includes 665 million in military and civil assistance and will help Ukraine gain “momentum” in its counteroffensive, he explained. Blinken at a press conference.
In total, Washington has provided Ukraine with more than US$40,000 million since the Russian invasion began.
Russia continues bombing Ukrainian cities, almost always at night or at dawn
On Friday, three civilians were killed and four wounded in a bombing in Odradokamiankain the region of Kherson (south)according to the Minister of the Interior, Igor Klimenko.
In Krivoy Roghometown of ZelenskyIn the south of the country, a bombing hit an administrative building, killing a police officer and leaving nearly 60 injured, according to emergency services.
In the Ukrainian territories annexed by Russia In September of last year, the polling stations opened this Friday to hold local elections, branded as “false” elections by Kyiv.
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Russia holds regional and municipal elections until Sunday throughout the country, including the four partially occupied Ukrainian regions (Donetsk, Lugansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson)as well as in Crimeaa peninsula annexed in 2014.
“The pseudo-elections of Russia in the temporarily occupied territories have no value,” the Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated, as expected, in a statement.
In the region of Khersonthe voting was disrupted by missiles and “the electoral commission (…) was evacuated,” the head of the electoral commission of Russia, Ella Pamfilovacited by the Ria Novotni agency.
The Ukrainian mayor in exile of Melitopol (occupied area of Zaporizhia) reported “two powerful explosions” at midnight at the Berdiansk institute, on the shores of the Black Sea, where “the enemy had set up one of the electoral centers.”
Source: Ambito
