Ukraine has stepped up attacks on Russian-occupied territories

Ukraine has stepped up attacks on Russian weapons depots and other targets in the occupied territory this weekend, backing a counteroffensive that has made modest gains against heavily fortified Russian border positions.

Large explosions rocked a village in Russian-held parts of the Kherson region in southern Ukraine overnight in what local officials said was a successful attack on an ammunition depot.

“Good job guys. More fire,” wrote Mykola Oleshchuk, commander of the Air Force of Ukraine, in a post on a Telegram channel on Sunday Video of hour-long explosions.

Ukrainian officials said the attack took place in the village of Rykov, 170km south of the nearest frontline, where Kiev’s forces have gained limited ground in the early stages of a wider counteroffensive this month.

Amid fierce fighting, Ukraine said last week that its forces had so far liberated about 100 square kilometers in the region, including some villages.

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On Sunday, the Russian-installed leader of the occupied parts of Ukraine’s southern Zaporizhzhya region, Vladimir Rogov, acknowledged that Ukrainian forces had captured the village of Pyatakhtki, south of Lobkov, which had already been liberated.

“The attacks of the enemy wave are yielding results, despite heavy losses,” Rogov said on the Telegram channel. Russia’s Defense Ministry claimed on Sunday that it had repelled Ukrainian offensives in Zaporizhia, southern Donetsk and Donetsk sectors, without mentioning Pytkhatki.

Ukrainian troops concentrated in this early phase of the counteroffensive on soft ground for the infantry with long-range missile and artillery strikes. Ukrainian forces are also probing Russian positions in the southeastern regions for vulnerabilities along more than 1,000 km of the front line.

Ukrainian Brigadier General Oleksandr Tarnavsky, commander of southern forces, claimed that 12 Russian ammunition storage sites had been destroyed in the previous 24 hours. “Every day turns into hell for the Russians,” he said.

Britain’s Defense Ministry said on Sunday that while both sides were suffering high casualties, Russian losses were likely to be “the highest since the climax of the Battle of Bakhmut in March”.

The long-awaited Ukrainian counteroffensive began this month with a new push by its forces to slowly recapture territory in the south, where slow gains have been reported recently.

Ukraine’s Deputy Defense Minister Volodymyr Gavrilov noted the importance of high-precision strikes at long ranges in shaping the battlefield. Ukraine did not reveal whether Britain-supplied Storm Shadow cruise missiles, which have a range of up to 550 km, were used in this weekend’s attacks.

A delegation of African leaders led by South African President Cyril Ramaphosa reiterated his call for “de-escalation” during Saturday’s meeting with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in St. Petersburg, after developments in the battlefield Speed ​​up.

“We are convinced that now is the time for both sides to start negotiations and end this war,” Ramaphosa told Putin, adding that the Black Sea region’s grain supply interruption was hurting his continent.

In a meeting with the African peace mission in Kiev on Friday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he would be ready for peace talks after the withdrawal of Russian forces from Ukraine. Zelensky said that he would not agree to “suspend the war” to give Russian troops time to regroup and resume their faltering offensive.

Ukraine has stepped up attacks on Russian weapons depots and other targets in the occupied territory this weekend, backing a counteroffensive that has made modest gains against heavily fortified Russian border positions.

Large explosions rocked a village in Russian-held parts of the Kherson region in southern Ukraine overnight in what local officials said was a successful attack on an ammunition depot.

“Good job guys. More fire,” wrote Mykola Oleshchuk, commander of the Air Force of Ukraine, in a post on a Telegram channel on Sunday Video of hour-long explosions.

Ukrainian officials said the attack took place in the village of Rykov, 170km south of the nearest frontline, where Kiev’s forces have gained limited ground in the early stages of a wider counteroffensive this month.

Amid fierce fighting, Ukraine said last week that its forces had so far liberated about 100 square kilometers in the region, including some villages.

You are viewing a snapshot of an interactive graphic. This is probably due to being offline or JavaScript is disabled in your browser.

On Sunday, the Russian-installed leader of the occupied parts of Ukraine’s southern Zaporizhzhya region, Vladimir Rogov, acknowledged that Ukrainian forces had captured the village of Pyatakhtki, south of Lobkov, which had already been liberated.

“The attacks of the enemy wave are yielding results, despite heavy losses,” Rogov said on the Telegram channel. Russia’s Defense Ministry claimed on Sunday that it had repelled Ukrainian offensives in Zaporizhia, southern Donetsk and Donetsk sectors, without mentioning Pytkhatki.

Ukrainian troops concentrated in this early phase of the counteroffensive on soft ground for the infantry with long-range missile and artillery strikes. Ukrainian forces are also probing Russian positions in the southeastern regions for vulnerabilities along more than 1,000 km of the front line.

Ukrainian Brigadier General Oleksandr Tarnavsky, commander of southern forces, claimed that 12 Russian ammunition storage sites had been destroyed in the previous 24 hours. “Every day turns into hell for the Russians,” he said.

Britain’s Defense Ministry said on Sunday that while both sides were suffering high casualties, Russian losses were likely to be “the highest since the climax of the Battle of Bakhmut in March”.

The long-awaited Ukrainian counteroffensive began this month with a new push by its forces to slowly recapture territory in the south, where slow gains have been reported recently.

Ukraine’s Deputy Defense Minister Volodymyr Gavrilov noted the importance of high-precision strikes at long ranges in shaping the battlefield. Ukraine did not reveal whether Britain-supplied Storm Shadow cruise missiles, which have a range of up to 550 km, were used in this weekend’s attacks.

A delegation of African leaders led by South African President Cyril Ramaphosa reiterated his call for “de-escalation” during Saturday’s meeting with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in St. Petersburg, after developments in the battlefield Speed ​​up.

“We are convinced that now is the time for both sides to start negotiations and end this war,” Ramaphosa told Putin, adding that the Black Sea region’s grain supply interruption was hurting his continent.

In a meeting with the African peace mission in Kiev on Friday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he would be ready for peace talks after the withdrawal of Russian forces from Ukraine. Zelensky said that he would not agree to “suspend the war” to give Russian troops time to regroup and resume their faltering offensive.