(Kyiv) Russian strikes on the industrial city of Kryvyi Rig in central Ukraine killed at least 10 people before dawn on Tuesday, as Russia continued its tactic of night bombardments.
“Ten people died, another remains under the rubble, 28 people were injured, 12 of whom (were) hospitalized”, declared on Telegram Oleksandre Vilkoul, the head of the military administration of Kryvyi Rig, the birthplace of the president. Volodymyr Zelensky.
Kyiv for its part indicated Monday evening that its offensive in the South and East to liberate territories occupied by Russia was “difficult”, but progressed with the resumption of a handful of villages in the south of the country.
Moscow, which has been saying for days that it has been repelling Ukrainian attacks, claimed for the first time on Tuesday the capture of German Leopard tanks and American Bradley armored vehicles, vehicles donated by the West so that Kyiv could carry out its vast counter-offensive.
In Kryvyi Rig, the birthplace of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky located in the Dnipropetrovsk region, a “massive missile attack” hit several places in the city, including a residential building, according to local authorities.
“A five-storey building was damaged,” the Dnipropetrovsk regional administration reported on Telegram.
The death toll from these strikes was 10 in the city, with at least four killed in the building.
Emergency services and regional authorities were not immediately able to give a detailed toll of the dead, injured and missing.
The regional administration published a photo of the building badly damaged and blackened by flames, smoke billowing from the floors.
In Kyiv, the military administration also reported nightly “cruise missile” strikes, while assuring that “all enemy targets in the airspace around Kyiv have been detected and successfully destroyed”.
For his part, the mayor of Kharkiv (North-East), Igor Terekhov, announced that drones had been launched “against civilian infrastructure” and that the premises of a company and a hangar were damaged there.
“Seven villages liberated”
Monday evening, President Zelensky assured that the current offensive against Russian troops was “difficult”, but “progressing”.
“The fighting is tough, but we are making progress, and that is very important,” he said in his daily address, assuring that “enemy casualties are exactly at the level we need.”
“The weather is not favorable – the rain makes our task more difficult – but the strength of our soldiers is giving good results”, he added, welcoming the return of the Ukrainian flag to “newly liberated territories”. .
Ukrainian authorities said Monday evening they had retaken seven villages in the south and east of the country after more than a week of fighting.
Several localities were taken over in the Zaporijjia region (south), Deputy Defense Minister Ganna Maliar said on Telegram, estimating at 90 km2 the area of the territory taken over by the Ukrainians.
The Ministry of Defense also said on Monday that it had “advanced 250 to 700 meters” around the devastated city of Bakhmout (east), whose capture was claimed in May by Russia.
Moscow for its part claimed to have repelled the Ukrainian attacks in the Donetsk region (east), near Velyka Novossilka as well as near the village of Levadné, near Zaporijjia.
These claims from Moscow and Kyiv could not be independently verified.
Weakened plant
According to military analysts, Ukraine has not yet launched the bulk of its forces in its major counter-offensive and its gains are still several tens of kilometers from the main Russian defense lines.
Currently, these operations seem to be concentrated on three main axes: Bakhmout in the east, in the area of Voulegdar (southeast) and in that of Orikhiv (south)
The Ukrainian counter-offensive will last “several weeks, even months,” French President Emmanuel Macron said on Monday, hoping that it would be “as successful as possible so that we can then trigger a negotiation phase under good conditions.”
In addition, the director of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Rafael Grossi was in Kyiv on Tuesday and is due to inspect, perhaps on Wednesday, the Ukrainian power plant in Zaporijjia, occupied by Russia, to see in particular whether this was endangered by the destruction of a dam on the Dnieper River.
Since the start of the invasion, Mr. Grossi has constantly warned against the risk of a nuclear accident on this site in south-eastern Ukraine, where he has already visited twice.
The destruction of the Kakhovka dam whose water is used to cool the six reactors had no effect on the cooling of the plant, according to the Russian and Ukrainian authorities. But elsewhere in the south it caused severe flooding, killing 17 in the Russian-occupied area and ten in the Ukrainian-controlled area.
Ukraine accuses Moscow of having demolished the structure to hinder its counter-offensive. Russia denies and accuses Kyiv in return.