As Kiev troops continue their counter-offensive, Moscow sends 1,300 Chechen soldiers to the Kherson region of southern Ukraine. This was announced by the General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, according to reports from the Kyiv Independent.
The Ukrainian news agency UNIAN reports that the military are men of the Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov, a loyal soldier of Russian President Vladimir Putin. These are the so-called "Kadyrovtsy", that is the notorious paramilitary militia operating alongside Kadyrov.
Bombings also continue with two civilians killed and five injured in the Donetsk region. Today, however, the German Foreign Minister, Annalena Baerbock, arrived in Kiev by surprise. His presence is intended to demonstrate Berlin's support for Ukraine: “Today I am in Kiev to show that they can continue to count on us. That we will continue to stand by Ukraine for as long as necessary, with arms supplies and humanitarian and financial support ", said the government official.
(Unioneonline)
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The day by the hour:
Kiev takes Kupiansk and Izyum back: "Russian soldiers on the run"
Kupiansk, Balakliya, and especially Izyum. One after another, in a few hours, the strategic cities of the Kharkiv region return to Ukrainian hands. Galvanized by the advances that the Russians themselves are beginning to admit, however attributing them to their change of strategy to "reorganize the troops" towards the priority objective of taking the Donbass, the forces of Kiev pushed the counter-offensive in the east of the country, regaining centers for months in enemy hands.
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Zelensky: "Shooting the Russians 2 thousand square km"
Since the beginning of this month, the Kiev army has recaptured "2 thousand square kilometers of territory" from Russian forces. This was stated by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. The enemy troops made "the right choice" by fleeing the Kharkiv region, he added, referring to the withdrawal from Izyum and other settlements in the area, which Moscow instead attributed to a "reorganization" to aim for the conquest of the whole Donbass.
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Kiev: "Ukrainian forces have entered Izyum"
Ukrainian troops entered Izyum after forcing Russian troops to withdraw. "We have just started to evacuate the city. The first military units have arrived," an officer involved in the operation to liberate the strategic eastern city told CNN. Izyum, on the border between the Kharkiv and Donetsk regions, had been under Russian occupation for over 5 months. A spokesman for the Bohun Brigade of the Ukrainian ground forces said that "the Russians fled and left behind weapons and ammunition. The city center is free". Videos of Ukrainian troops in front of the Izyum cartel were posted on Telegram.
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Kiev, Ukrainian troops on the outskirts of Lysychansk
In addition to the Kharkiv region, the counter-offensive of the Ukrainian forces is also advancing towards Lysychansk and the troops have reached the outskirts of the strategic city in the Lugansk oblast, conquered in early July by the Russians after a hard battle. The regional governor Serhiy Gaidai told the Ukrainian radio and television Suspilne.
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Kiev, "Kupiansk free", crucial for Russian supplies
"Kupiansk is Ukraine. Glory to the armed forces": the advisor to the president of the Kharkiv Regional Council, Nataliya Popova, wrote on social media, announcing the liberation of the city. Unian reports it. British Defense Ministry intelligence in its morning update wrote that the liberation of Kupiansk "would be a major blow to Moscow because it is located along the supply routes of the Donbass front line." The eastern Ukrainian city was occupied by the Russians on February 27, three days after the invasion. Today the Ukrainian army also liberated the village of Grakove.
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Russian bombs in the Kharkiv region, a woman killed
A 62-year-old woman died last night as a result of Russian bombing in the Kharkiv region, the state emergency service said, according to Ukrinform. The woman was killed in the village of Vodolaha when a Russian missile hit her home. "The enemy again hit the Kharkiv region with missiles in the night. In the Nova Vodolaha settlement, a private house was hit and significantly damaged," the Emergency Service said in a statement.