(Kyiv) The Ukrainian army has launched offensives in several directions against Russian forces on the eastern front and claims new advances, the Ministry of Defense announced on Saturday.
“An offensive in several directions simultaneously” was launched on Saturday towards the localities of Orikhovo-Vasylivka, Bakhmout, Bogdanivka, Yagidné, Klichtchiïvka, Kourdioumivka, declared the Ukrainian Deputy Minister of Defense, Ganna Maliar, claiming “advances in all directions”.
Three people killed in Kyiv
Three people were killed and 11 injured in Kyiv during a fresh wave of Russian airstrikes targeting several targets across the country overnight, emergency services said on Saturday.
“Eleven people were injured. Four of them were hospitalized and seven received medical assistance on site. Unfortunately, three people died,” these sources said, after Ukrainian authorities said they shot down 40 Russian cruise missiles and two attack drones.
PHOTO ANDREW KRAVCHENKO, ASSOCIATED PRESS
View of an apartment building in Kyiv hit by a Russian strike
“It is time to provide all the weapons”
Ukraine protects Europe from Russia, “it’s time to [lui] provide all the necessary weapons” including F-16 fighters and ATACMS tactical missiles with a range of 300 kilometers, President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Saturday.
“The security of Europe’s eastern flank depends only on our defence,” Zelensky said in his daily address. “Now is the time to provide all the necessary weapons” for this purpose, including F-16 fighters and ATACMS (Army tactical missile system).
Kyiv attacks repelled
The Russian army said on Saturday that it had repelled several attacks by Kyiv forces against its positions in southern and eastern Ukraine in the past 24 hours, at a time when Moscow is also facing a rebellion in Russia.
According to the Russian Defense Ministry, nine Ukrainian attacks were repelled in the Donetsk region (East) and one in the Zaporizhia region (South). These claims were not independently verifiable.