According to kyiv, the fighting is “fierce” between the Russian army and the Ukrainian army in eastern Ukraine.
The counter-offensive continues in eastern Ukraine, where fighting between Russian and Ukrainian troops is “relentless”, according to the words of the Ukrainian Deputy Minister of Defense, Sunday, July 2. At the same time, Russian public television is trying to discredit militia leader Wagner, a week after his failed mutiny attempt. Here’s what to remember from the day.
Russian troops advance in eastern Ukraine
Vladimir Putin’s army advances in four areas of the front line in eastern Ukraine where “hard fights”Ukrainian Deputy Defense Minister Ganna Maliar said on Sunday. “The enemy is advancing in the areas of Avdiivka, Mariinka, Lyman and Svatovoe”she wrote the deputy minister on the Telegram messaging service. “The situation is quite difficult”she added. “There is fierce fighting everywhere.”
Ganna Maliar clarified that Ukrainian troops were advancing with “a partial success” on the southern flank of the city of Bakhmout in the east, as well as near Berdyansk and Melitopol in the southern area of the front. In the south, she said Ukrainian forces were encountering a “intense enemy resistance” as well as minefields, and only advanced “gradually”.
Communication war between the Kremlin and Wagner
A week after the aborted mutiny of the paramilitary group Wagner, theRussian public television on Sunday accused Yevgeny Prigojine of having “lost the ball because of large sums of money”. It was presenter Dmitri Kissiliov, one of the main voices of the Kremlin media apparatus, who made this on-air accusation against the militia leader.
The presenter assured, without providing evidence, that Wagner had received 858 billion rubles (about 8.8 billion euros) of Russian public money. He claimed that “one of the big factors” of the mutiny is the refusal of the Russian Ministry of Defense to extend juicy contracts signed with Evguéni Prigojine’s Concord catering group.
For the CIA, this war is an exceptional “opportunity”
The war in Ukraine has an effect “destructive” on Vladimir Putin, said the director of the intelligence agency on Saturday July 1. From the Ditchley Foundation, UK, William Burns called Russia’s invasion of Ukraine a “the most immediate and acute geopolitical challenge to the international order today”. According to him, war is a “strategic failure” for Moscow, which exposed Russia’s military weaknesses, dealt a blow to its economy and encouraged the enlargement and strengthening of NATO.