Current war in Ukraine: Army recaptures 29 settlements around Kyiv and Chernihiv

DAccording to the General Staff, the Ukrainian armed forces have 29 settlements in the regions Kyiv and Chernihiv recaptured by Russian troops. These are areas from which Russia has withdrawn some of its troops, it said in a statement on Friday.

In the north-east of Ukraine the Russian blockade and shelling of cities continued Chernihiv and Kharkiv However, the General Staff further announced. In the east and south, the Russian forces also tried to seize the cities Popasna, Ruby Ne and to take Mariupol, the territory of the separatist areas Donetsk and Luhansk to expand.

The city commander in Kyiv had previously spoken of an easing of the situation. “Thanks to the steadfast defense and heroic actions of our troops, the situation around the city is improving,” said General Mykola Schyrnov in a statement published on Thursday evening. However, fighting continues in the outskirts of the Ukrainian capital.

“The Ukrainian military and branches of the State Rescue Service are cleaning and demining the liberated areas,” Zhyrnov said. Despite the progress, he called on the population to exercise caution. Airborne alert signals should continue to be heeded. The civilian infrastructure is also being restored, which affects companies as well as trade and service facilities, Schyrnow emphasized.

This is also confirmed by reports by reporter Illia Ponomarenko from the independent media company “The Kyiv Independent”, which is supported, among others, by Axel Springer SE, to which WELT also belongs. The situation is still far from normal, but there are many smaller shops that are opening again, he wrote on Twitter. Supermarkets but also small cafés welcomed customers again, and as of today even the ban on alcohol in the city has been lifted.

Ukraine recaptures areas near Cherson

In the southern Ukrainian region Kherson According to their own statements, the Ukrainian troops have also managed to recapture eleven settlements in the past few days. They also got their hands on heavy Russian military technology, including T-64 tanks, the Ministry of Defense announced in Kyiv late Thursday evening. Thanks to the success, the residents could now receive food and medicine. The civilian population happily welcomed the Ukrainian forces. The information cannot be independently verified.

According to the information, one of the recaptured settlements is Novovorontsovka. The place is strategically located on the right bank of the Dnipro River, which is dammed here to form the Kakhovka Reservoir. An advance of Ukrainian troops into the Kherson region would also become a big city Kryvyi Rih relieve and also prevent Russian units from entering the strategically important city Mykolayiv cut off from supplies.

Red Cross cannot reach Mariupol

The besieged Mariupol according to the city administration, is further cut off from the outside world. Getting to the city in southern Ukraine is not possible, Petro Andryushchenko, adviser to Mariupol Mayor Vadym Boychenko, wrote on Telegram on Friday. At the same time, it is too dangerous for residents to try to escape on their own. The Russian side shows no real will to allow residents to go to safety in Ukrainian-controlled territory.

Since Thursday, the occupiers have also categorically refused to let even small amounts of humanitarian aid into the city, the adviser explained. On Friday, however, representatives of Russia let 42 buses with residents of Mariupol leave the neighboring city of Berdyansk. The residents of Mariupol could get to the buses themselves.

However, a Red Cross relief team could not reach the city. Arrangements and conditions on the ground made it impossible for a three-vehicle convoy to safely enter the southern Ukrainian city and evacuate residents, the International Committee of the Red Cross said. The convoy returned to the city of Zaporizhia, which is under Ukrainian control, without having achieved anything. In order for the operation in Mariupol to be successful, it is important that the parties to the conflict stick to agreements and create the necessary conditions and security guarantees, the aid organization warned.

Kremlin: First Ukrainian airstrike in Russia – Ukraine disagrees

According to Russian information, Ukrainian helicopters flew the first attack on a fuel depot in Russia. Army helicopters flew over Russian territory and the city’s fuel depot Belgorod attacked, said the governor of the region, Vyacheslav Gladkov, on Friday on his channel of the messenger service Telegram. A fire broke out in the camp.

Belgorod is around 40 kilometers from the Ukrainian border and around 80 kilometers from the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv. If the information is correct, this would be the first Ukrainian attack on Russian territory. Ukraine denies the account of the Russian side.

Secretary of Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council Oleksiy Danilov denied claims that his country’s armed forces were behind the fuel depot fire. “For some reason they say it was us,” he said on television. “From the information I have, that’s not true,” Danilov said.

The Kremlin, in turn, said the attack would complicate negotiations on a ceasefire with Kyiv. “Of course, this does not create favorable conditions for the continuation of the negotiations,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told journalists in Moscow. Russia and Ukraine continued their ceasefire negotiations on Friday via video conference.

Plane with refugees from Moldova reaches Thuringia

On Friday, a second plane carrying Ukrainian refugees landed via the international airlift Republic of Moldova in Germany. 117 people were on the plane that arrived at Erfurt-Weimar Airport in the afternoon.

Germany had pledged to take in 2,500 Ukrainian refugees from Moldova. A first plane landed in Frankfurt am Main last week. Federal Minister of the Interior Nancy Faeser (SPD) declared that the airlift from Moldova had been set up within a very short time.

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