“UPTICK” IN FIGHTING
Ukrainian forces have also been pressing against deeply entrenched Russian forces in the south of the country, in two regions the Kremlin said it had annexed last year.
Malyar said Kyiv’s army had made gains in two villages on the southern front but also confirmed Ukrainian troops had conducted “certain tasks” on the left bank of the Dnipro river in the Kherson region.
The river was rendered the de facto front line between Ukrainian and Russian forces in the region after Kyiv recaptured the territory’s main city, also called Kherson, in November.
In its latest intelligence update, the British defence ministry noted “an uptick in small-scale combat” along the lower Dnipro river, where it said Ukrainian forces were attempting to conduct raids and set up new bridgeheads.
Ukraine has urged its Western allies to ramp up arms deliveries, including long-range missiles and F-16 fighter jets to speed up its offensive.
That was the message Kyiv mayor Vitali Klitschko said he took to his meeting with Germany’s Finance Minister Christian Lindner, who arrived in Kyiv on Monday.
While the offensive is ongoing, Russian territory has also been targeted by almost daily drone attacks.
On Monday, the Russian army said it downed drones over the region of Belgorod bordering Ukraine, without any casualties or damage.
ODESA STRIKES
Ukraine’s claims of advances in the east came after its air force said it had downed several waves of Russian missiles and drones targeting Odesa.
All eight Kalibr cruise missiles and 23 drones were shot down, the defence ministry said on Twitter, which has been rebranded as X.
Russia and Ukraine have stepped up attacks in the Black Sea since Moscow exited a deal last month that had granted Kyiv’s grain exports safe passage during the conflict.
Since withdrawing from the agreement, Moscow has pounded ports in the Odesa region that were key for Ukrainian grain exports under the deal.
Falling debris damaged a student dormitory and a supermarket in Odesa city centre, wounding three workers, the army said.
“The blast wave damaged windows and balconies in several buildings and damaged cars parked nearby”, it said, adding that firefighters were battling two blazes.
Images shared by the army showed firefighters trying to extinguish flames engulfing a multi-storey supermarket, with a large plume of smoke rising into the air.
The overnight missile and drone attacks come a day after Moscow said warning shots were fired from a Russian warship at a cargo vessel heading towards Izmail, a city on the Danube river in Odesa.
The Russian ship spotted the Sukru Okan cargo vessel sailing under the flag of Palau and fired the shots after its captain did not respond to demands to stop.
After inspection, the cargo ship was allowed to continue its journey.
“These actions exemplified Russia’s deliberate policy of endangering the freedom of navigation and safety of commercial shipping in the Black Sea,” Ukraine’s foreign ministry said on Monday, accusing Moscow of breaching United Nations accords and norms of international law.
Izmail, one of the main export routes for Ukrainian agricultural products to neighbouring Romania, was attacked by Russian drones earlier in August.
Source: CNA
