In a counter-offensive that had already been announced hours ago by the high authorities in Kiev, Ukraine dealt a severe blow to the Russian forces occupying Ukrainian territory destroying an ammunition depot and a complex weapons system deployed in the area by the Kremlin.

The bombing of Kiev was carried out with a sophisticated missile arsenal recently supplied by the West and, according to Russian reports, it destroyed nearby civilian homes, leaving at least six dead and a dozen injured.

The Ukrainian attack, near Kherson in the south of the country, took place the day after that country’s defense minister, Olexii Reznikov, told the British newspaper. Sunday times that your country was preparing “An army of a million people” launch a counter-offensive in southeastern Ukraine in order to recapture the areas occupied by the invaders.

An operation that would be supported by the weapons that President Volodimir Zelenski insisted on asking his allies.

The Kherson region, bordering the Crimean peninsula annexed by Moscow in 2014, is largely occupied by Russian forces, which invaded Ukraine on February 24. the Ukrainian army has launched a counter-offensive on this front for several weekswhile the bulk of the Russian troops are deployed in Donbas, to the east.

Dead and wounded

Ukrainian military officials for the south of the country have indicated that the missiles and artillery are firing killed 52 Russian soldiers, and destroyed artillery, armored vehicles “and an ammunition depot in Nova Kajovka”, about 70 kilometers from the city of Kherson, which has 290,000 inhabitants.

For his part, the head of the civil-military administration established by the Russians in Kherson, Vladimir Leontiev, denounced an “act of terrorism” and “a terrible tragedy”. “There are no military targets here,” she assured.

“There are seven dead and about 60 injured,” he said. The number of victims “will increase because the extent of the damage is enormous,” added Leontiev. “Dozens of houses have been hit (…) people are being pulled out of the rubble,” he said.

Apparently the Ukrainians used it the US multiple missile launcher HIMARS to support its offensive. At present, it has not been possible to verify these claims with independent sources.

In a video released by the Russian media, at night a huge fireball could be seen in the sky, a thick column of white smoke and powerful detonations could be heard. Other images taken in the morning and released by the occupation authorities show several destroyed buildings.

In the east of the country, where Russian bombings continue, Ukraine is preparing for a new Russian offensive in the Donetsk region, in the Donbas mining basin, partially controlled since 2014 by separatists supported by Moscow.

“There are indications that enemy units are preparing to attack. intensify combat operations in the direction of Kramatorsk and Bakhmut ”, warned the Ukrainian general staff. kyiv sees Kramatorsk, the administrative center of Donbas still under Ukrainian control, and its neighbor Sloviansk as the next targets of the Russians in their plan to take over all of Donbas.

While fighting is taking place intensely in southern Ukraine, on a political level Moscow continues to develop its strategy to consolidate the invaded territories. It became known in Moscow, where the embassy of the separatist region of Donetsk was inaugurated, in the presence of Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.

On Monday, Russia announced it it will make it easier for all Ukrainians to obtain Russian citizenshipa measure that until now was applied only to the inhabitants of the areas that had been taken several years ago in the breakaway republics of Lugansk and Donestk, which make up the rich Donbas valley in the south-east of the country.

On Tuesday, meanwhile, it was reported that the number of victims of a Russian attack on Sunday against a building in Chasiv Yar, in the center of the country, continues to grow. Ukrainian authorities in that city said there were at least 34 deaths last night.

Source: AP, EFE and AFP

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