Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky reported on Saturday of “counter-offensive actions” by his army on the front, without confirming whether it was the big attack prepared for months by Kiev.
The Ukrainian authorities maintain the vagueness on their strategy, while the Russian army has been reporting major attacks for six days, including with equipment delivered by the West, on its positions, particularly in southern Ukraine.
“Counteroffensive and defensive actions are taking place in Ukraine, and I won’t go into detail about them,” Zelensky said during a press conference with visiting Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. surprise in Kyiv.
“You have to trust our soldiers, and I trust them,” he added.
The Ukrainian head of state was questioned about comments by his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, who assured journalists on Friday that the great Ukrainian counter-offensive expected for months had “begun”.
However, Mr. Putin had added, “all counter-offensive attempts carried out so far have failed”, citing losses “in the order of three [Ukrainiens] for a” Russian, while claiming that kyiv retained its “offensive potential”.
Armor destroyed
Mr. Zelensky simply called on Saturday not to trust the words of Vladimir Putin.
Friday evening, the Ukrainian president had praised “the heroism” of the soldiers of his country, engaged in “particularly hard fighting”.
If the Ukrainian authorities seemed to put the extent of the fighting into perspective, the Russian army again mentioned in its daily report on Saturday attacks by Kiev forces in the regions of Zaporizhia (south) and Donetsk (east), in particular near the devastated city of Bakhmout, which Moscow claimed full conquest in May.
The Russian Defense Ministry released a video showing a column of destroyed Western-made tanks and armored vehicles, some still smoking carcasses, in the southern Donetsk region.
The spokesman of the “East” command of the Ukrainian army, Serguiï Tcherevaty, meanwhile affirmed on television that the troops of Kiev had managed to advance 1400 meters around Bakhmout.
Flooded localities
On the diplomatic front, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Saturday in the Ukrainian capital blamed Russia for the destruction of the Kakhovka hydroelectric dam in southern Ukraine. A disaster that caused the flooding of dozens of towns and villages on both banks of the Dnieper.
“There is absolutely no doubt in our mind that the destruction of the dam is a direct consequence of Russia’s decision to invade the country,” he said alongside Mr. Zelensky, without accusing Moscow. to have been at the origin of the explosion which caused a huge breach in the dam, for which the two camps reject responsibility.
Mr. Zelensky for his part castigated in a video the international organizations which “fail to form and send a rescue mission to the occupied territory” and “other international actors” who “do not dare to make statements clear and strong condemnation of this latest Russian war crime”.
According to the latest report from the Ukrainian Ministry of the Interior, five people died and 27 are missing in areas under Ukrainian control due to this sudden rise in water levels. The Russian occupation authorities deplored for their part at least eight dead.
Evacuations of local populations took place on both banks of the Dnieper, with each side accusing the other of continuing to bombard the flooded areas.
According to Mr. Zelensky, 3,000 people have been evacuated from areas under Ukrainian control. Added to this are 5,000 in the occupied territories, according to the Russians.
According to the Ukrainian count, 78 localities are flooded, of which 14 are in occupied territory.
Also in the south, the major Ukrainian port of Odessa on the Black Sea was once again targeted by a drone attack at dawn, which left three dead and 26 injured, authorities said.
Russia also promised on Saturday a “response” to the closure of its embassy in Moscow by Iceland, which became the first country to take such a step since the start of the war in February 2022.
At the same time, French President Emmanuel Macron called on Iran “to immediately end support” for the Russians in the war in Ukraine by ceasing its drone deliveries.