As of: 09/20/2022 3:03 p.m
According to their own statements, the Ukrainian military has continued to advance into areas given up by Russian forces. According to British data, Russia has withdrawn submarines from Crimea.
In the east of the country, the Ukrainian military claims to have advanced into areas that had been abandoned by Russian forces. A village in the Luhansk region near the border with Russia is under control. According to the Ukrainian governor responsible there, Serhij Hajdaj, the entire province should now be liberated. However, he reckons that Russia is preparing to defend itself, fighting for every inch.
According to the Russian news agency TASS, seven people were killed by Ukrainian shelling in the region.
Also fighting in Donetsk and Kherson regions
In the neighboring region of Donetsk, the local military administration reports renewed Russian fire from several locations. During the night, for example, a high-rise building was hit by an air raid and partially collapsed. According to the Ukrainian military administration, there is not a single safe place left in the region.
The pro-Russian head of the self-proclaimed “People’s Republic” of Donetsk, Denis Puschilin, on the other hand, accuses Ukraine of attacking civilian targets. 13 people were killed. The information on both sides cannot be checked at the moment.
According to the American think tank Institute for the Study of War, Ukrainian soldiers are increasingly relying on captured Russian tanks in their counter-offensive in the north-east of the country. “The initial panic of the counter-offensive made Russian soldiers leave behind higher-quality and working equipment,” the institute’s experts said. This is another indication of how devastating the present defeat was for the Russians.
Ukrainian forces are also reporting successes in the Kherson region of southern Ukraine. There they would have stopped the advance of Russian troops by destroying military logistics.
Withdrawal of Russian submarines
Meanwhile, the British Ministry of Defense reports that Russia, according to its own knowledge, has withdrawn submarines from the Crimean peninsula towards southern Russia. This is probably due to an increased threat to the fleet from Ukrainian long-range weapons. The British point out that in the past two months the headquarters and the main airfield of the Black Sea Fleet in Crimea have been attacked.
A Russian Black Sea Fleet submarine is docked in Sevastopol. According to British findings, Russia has relocated some of its submarines from Sevastopol on the Crimean peninsula to Novorossiysk in southern Russia.
Image: picture alliance / dpa
Financial aid to Ukraine
The EU states have meanwhile decided on further financial aid for Ukraine in the amount of five billion euros. The loan is intended to ensure that the Ukrainian state and important infrastructure can continue to function despite the Russian war against the country. The money is part of an aid package announced in May totaling nine billion euros. One billion euros was already paid out at the beginning of August.
Great Britain is also planning further financial packages for Ukraine. According to the British government, military aid to Ukraine next year will be at least at this year’s level. Support will return to or exceed £2.3 billion (around €2.6 billion).
The Hungarian government is now speaking out against the European Union’s new sanctions against Russia. “The EU should … stop talking about an eighth package of sanctions and announcing measures that would only exacerbate the energy supply crisis,” said Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto.