Ukraine intensifies operations on Russian soil , while Russia claims to have conquered another village in Donbass . The new phase of the war between Moscow and Kiev is moving in these two directions , with the Ukrainians hoping to consolidate their positions in the Kursk region - and in other neighboring areas - to be able to "exchange" them with their own regions occupied by the Russians in a possible future negotiating table.

Following the one destroyed on Friday, Ukrainian forces announced that they had struck another bridge over the Seim River in Kursk, with the aim, explained the commander of the Air Force, Lieutenant General Mykola Oleshchuk, of "depriving the enemy of logistical capabilities with precision air strikes, which significantly affects the course of combat operations."

Also in an effort to weaken Russian logistics, Kiev has targeted a fuel depot in the Rostov region, on the southeastern border of Ukraine : according to Governor Vasily Golubev, Russian forces "repelled a drone attack" but "after debris fell on industrial warehouses in Proletarsk, the diesel fuel caught fire."

The Russian Defense Ministry later said it had intercepted and destroyed several drones in Kursk, Rostov and also in the Belgorod region, the other border area that Kiev had attempted to enter in recent days without success. The ministry also announced that it had captured a Ukrainian village, Svyrydonivka, in Donetsk, about fifteen kilometers from the city of Pokrovsk, an important logistics center in eastern Ukraine that has been the target of Moscow's offensive for several months. In recent days, the Russian army had claimed the capture of several villages in this area, where its troops advanced rapidly after taking Ocheretyne in early May.

The town of Pokrovsk is on a major road to the Ukrainian strongholds of Chasiv Yar and Kostiantynivka. In response to the threat, Ukrainian authorities had previously urged residents to evacuate. However, according to US officials cited by CNN, Russia has been forced to divert thousands of troops from occupied Ukrainian territory to the Kursk front to shore up defenses against the Ukrainian advance. President Vladimir Putin has also reportedly called up conscripts, reneging on a promise not to use them on the front lines.

Putin and his armed forces "will naturally sweep away the Ukrainian army" from the Kursk region, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, a vassal ally of the Kremlin, said in an interview with Rossiya 1, denouncing that Kiev has deployed more than 120,000 soldiers on the border with his country. Accordingly, the Minsk leader announced, "we have deployed our military along the entire border."

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said this morning that his troops are reaching their goals in the offensive launched almost two weeks ago. “We are reaching our goals. This morning we have another replenishment of the ‘exchange fund’ (prisoners of war) for our country,” said Zelensky, who yesterday stressed Kiev’s goal of creating a “buffer zone” in Russia.

(Unioneonline/vl)

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