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DNIPRO, Ukraine — Russia launched a wave of drone assaults on a number of areas of Ukraine early Tuesday, and combating simmered in key pockets throughout the lengthy entrance line as Ukrainian forces continued their push to oust occupying Russian troops.
Because the begin of a serious counteroffensive, Ukraine has claimed modest good points, together with the liberation of seven villages, however the advances have been gradual, prompting some analysts to invest that Kyiv had quickly paused its counterattack.
However a Ukrainian officer combating within the southern Zaporizhzhia area mentioned that there was no halt in hostilities. “Our fighters are in search of weak factors to advance and go additional,” the officer mentioned, talking on the situation of anonymity as a result of he was not licensed to speak to the media.
Andrii Kovalev, a spokesman for the overall workers of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, mentioned there was “heavy combating” alongside some components of the entrance and that 45 fight clashes had occurred within the earlier 24 hours.
Professional-war Russian bloggers and propagandists additionally reported continued hostilities, together with on a key axis north of the Russian-occupied metropolis of Melitopol, the place Ukraine claimed over the weekend to have captured the village of Pyatikhatka.
“Within the Melitopol route, after the seize of Pyatikhatka, the enemy is attempting to interrupt into the subsequent village … heavy combating continues,” Igor Strelkov, a former officer of Russia’s safety service who had a brutal function in Russia’s navy operations in Crimea and Donbas in 2014, wrote on Telegram.
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Hanna Maliar, Ukraine’s deputy protection minister, mentioned late Monday that whereas Ukraine was advancing “in a number of instructions of the south,” Russia was concentrating its efforts within the east, and that each areas had been “scorching.”
Phrase of a shift to the east got here after studies that Moscow might have diverted assets and troops from the southern Kherson area after the collapse of the Kakhovka dam, the place the ensuing floods seem to have altered Kyiv’s plans to advance within the south.
Russian airstrikes, together with drone and missile assaults, additionally continued on Tuesday, with air raid sirens sounding in a single day in Kyiv, the capital, and in Lviv, near the Polish border.
Kovalev mentioned in a press release Tuesday that 35 drones had been deployed in “one other huge air and missile assault” assault, together with two-dozen Iranian-made “Shahed” drones despatched towards Kyiv. Ukrainian officers claimed that their air defenses intercepted 32 of the drones.
In Lviv, a bit of “vital infrastructure” was hit and caught fireplace, the town’s navy administration mentioned, however transportation had been restored and there have been no accidents.
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Elements of Zaporizhzhia nonetheless managed by Ukraine additionally got here underneath fireplace early Tuesday, predominantly from Russian airstrikes. “Zaporizhzhia and its suburbs had been shaken by one other treacherous mass assault by the enemy,” mentioned Yuriy Malashko, head of the Zaporizhzhia regional navy administration, including that no accidents had been reported.
In the meantime, one individual was killed and 7 had been injured by shelling as they cleared mud in a flooded space of Kherson, Ukrainian presidential administration chief Andriy Yermak mentioned Tuesday. The Washington Publish couldn’t confirm Yermak’s account.
Posting on Telegram, Yermak wrote: “The Russian military fired at rescue employees in Kherson who had been clearing mud. Because of the shelling, one worker of the state emergency service was killed, and 7 extra staff had been injured. Six are in severe situation.”
Because of the collapse of the dam, greater than 800 homes stay flooded, Ukraine’s Inside Ministry mentioned Tuesday. The ministry mentioned 31 individuals had been nonetheless lacking. Kyiv has accused Russian forces of blowing up the dam, whereas Russia blames Ukraine for the injury.
Ukraine’s Well being Ministry additionally reported “vital” water contamination in areas affected by the dam collapse, together with traces of salmonella, rotavirus and E. coli, amongst different contaminants. In response, the authorities banned swimming and fishing within the Odessa, Kherson and Mykolaiv areas.
Stern reported from Kyiv, Ukraine. Kamila Hrabchuk in Dnipro, Ukraine, contributed to this report.
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