Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky asked officials to stop talking to journalists about Kyiv’s military tactics against Russia, saying such statements were “frankly irresponsible.” The president’s comments come after news agencies quoted unidentified officials as saying that Ukrainian forces were responsible for bombings that destroyed a Russian air base in Crimea on Tuesday, although Kyiv refused to say whether it was behind the bombings.
The destruction of the Russian air base in Crimea suggests that Kyiv may have acquired a long-range offensive capability with the potential to change the course of the war. The base is far beyond the range of the advanced missiles Western countries admit to sending to Ukraine so far, with some Western military experts saying the scale of the damage and the apparent accuracy of the strike. Suggest a powerful new ability With important potential repercussions.
The United Nations has urged the creation of a demilitarized zone around the Zaporizhzhya nuclear plant as Russia and Ukraine trade accusations over further bombing of the plant. Thursday. The Ukrainian nuclear power company said it was bombed five times by Russian forces on Thursday, leaving employees unable to change work shifts. But the Russian news agency TASS reported that the local authorities imposed by Russia in occupied Zaporizhia said that Ukrainian forces came under fire. The Ukrainian agency Energoatom said that the plant is operating normally.
The United States supports calls for the establishment of a demilitarized zone around the Zaporizhia plant after fighting involving Russian and Ukrainian forces in the vicinity of the plant.A State Department spokesman said on Thursday. “Fighting near a nuclear plant is dangerous and irresponsible, and we continue to call on Russia to cease all military operations at or near Ukrainian nuclear facilities and return full control to Ukraine, and support Ukrainian calls for a demilitarized zone around the nuclear power plant,” the spokesperson said.
The British Defense Secretary said that Vladimir Putin will now not succeed in occupying Ukraine. Ben Wallace said the Russian invasion of Ukraine “stumbled” and “began to fail,” as he pledged more financial and military support for the defense of the eastern European country.
Russia doubled the number of air strikes on military sites and civilian infrastructure in Ukraine compared to the previous weekUkrainian Brigadier General Oleksiy Hromov said on Thursday. “Enemy planes and helicopters avoid flying within the range of our air defenses, and therefore the accuracy of these strikes is low,” he told a news conference.
Ukraine aims to evacuate two-thirds of the population from the areas it controls in the eastern Donetsk battlefield area before winter, On Thursday, the deputy prime minister said, in part, that people would not be able to keep warm amid war-ravaged infrastructure. Irina Vereshuk said at a press conference that the government plans to evacuate about 220,000 people out of about 350,000, including 52,000 children.
Ukraine expects a ship to arrive on Friday to load grain for delivery to Ethiopia Under an agreement brokered by the United Nations and Turkey, according to Reuters.
Ukraine expects $3 billion in US financial aid to arrive in August and another $1.5 billion in SeptemberFinance Minister Serhiy Marchenko said on Thursday. Marchenko said the payments were part of the $7.5 billion financial aid package agreed by Ukraine and the United States at the beginning of the summer and would be used to fund “critical spending” such as health care and pension costs.
Belarus said the explosions heard overnight at one of its military bases 19 miles from Ukraine were caused by a “technical accident.” At least eight explosions were heard after midnight near the Zyabrovka military airport, according to reports on the Telegram messenger. Reuters could not independently verify the reports.
McDonald’s will start reopening some of its restaurants in Ukraine in the coming months, in a show of support after the US fast-food chain pulled out of Russia. The burger giant closed its Ukrainian restaurants after the Russian invasion nearly six months ago, but has continued to pay salaries to more than 10,000 McDonald’s employees in the country.
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