Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has ordered Ukraine’s military to bolster the country’s northern defenses. After a meeting with military commanders, Zelensky said that “the situation in the north, in particular in the territory of Belarus, was considered separately. … By decision of the (General) General Staff, Commander-in-Chief (Valerii) Zaluzhny and General (Serhiy) Naiev were instructed to strengthen the northern direction – to secure peace.”
There has been an increase in cross-border shelling and airstrikes by Russian forces in the northern regions of Sumy and Chernihiv in recent weeks. But Ukrainian authorities played down any threat of a new attack from Belarus.
Zelensky said Ukrainian units “made progress in all directions” from the front lines on Friday, adding that Ukraine’s “work with partners to receive cartridges for Ukrainian soldiers is already at its best capacity”.
advances
The Ukrainian military says its forces are advancing both on the southern front and in the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine, but they have not made any specific claims over the newly captured territory.
Brigadier General Oleksandr Tarnavskyi says Kiev’s army “is driving the enemy and burning its positions” in southern Ukraine.
Most reports from the Ukrainian side over the past week have spoken of advances in the south, with Ukrainian forces encountering deeply stratified Russian defenses supported by artillery and attack helicopters.
Tarnavskyi said the fighting left hundreds of Russian fighters dead or wounded in the last day, but the CNN cannot independently verify allegations of casualties on either side of the conflict.
The General Staff of the Ukrainian Army said on Friday that counter-offensive operations were continuing towards Melitopol and Berdiansk, two towns about 120 kilometers (75 miles) apart in southeastern Ukraine, which had suffered heavy fighting.
The General Staff claimed “partial success” in two areas. He said that Ukrainian brigades “are consolidating their positions on the established front lines” and that the enemy had taken heavy losses.
(With information from Yulia Kesaieva, Tim Lister and Mari Kostenko)
Source: CNN Brasil
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