Did you miss the latest events on the war in Ukraine? 20 minutes takes stock for you every evening at 7:30 p.m. Between the strong declarations, the advances on the front and the results of the battles, here are the essentials of the day.
The fact of the day
European leaders were in Kiev on Tuesday, the 10th anniversary of the pro-Western Maidan revolution, to reassure Ukraine of their support against Russia, after almost two years of war and a disappointing Ukrainian counter-offensive. After the arrival on Monday of the American Secretary of Defense, Lloyd Austin, it was the turn of the German Minister of Defense Boris Pistorius and the President of the European Council Charles Michel to come and assure Kiev of the sustainability of their assistance.
A sign of this support, Boris Pistorius announced new military aid to Ukraine amounting to 1.3 billion euros, which is added to an envelope of 100 million dollars promised by Washington the day before. According to the German minister, Berlin’s aid includes four new Iris-T SLM air defense systems and artillery ammunition, which Ukraine badly needs.
Sentence of the day
In December we expect a result, a political decision to start negotiations. »
These are the words of Volodymyr Zelensky who said, this Tuesday in Kiev, that he wants a “result” at the European summit in December, which must judge whether or not Ukraine is ready to open accession negotiations with the EU . The Ukrainian president also indicated on this subject that he had asked the 27 to be “concrete and precise” and to measure all the progress already made by his country on the road to accession to the EU.
The number of the day
4. This is the number of guided missiles launched by Russian forces on Tuesday, according to the Ukrainian army. “The central hospital of the town of Selydove in the Donetsk region, the Kotlyarevska mine building and other civilian infrastructure were destroyed and damaged” in this attack, the Air Force said on Tuesday Ukrainian in a statement, adding that two people died and eight others injured. Beyond these four guided missiles, a cruise missile and eleven attack drones were also launched. The Ukrainian army said it had destroyed this cruise missile and ten drones.
Today’s trend
Kiev claimed to have pushed the Russian army “three to eight kilometers” deep into the left side of the Dnieper River, which had become a front line in southern Ukraine, without specifying whether its troops fully controlled this area of the region. from Kherson. If this advance is confirmed, it would be the biggest push by the Ukrainian army against the Russians since the recapture of the village of Robotyné in the Zaporizhia region in August.
The fact remains that according to pro-Kremlin military expert Alexander Khramchikhin, the ground reconquered by the Ukrainians is “microscopic” and will not allow them to deploy military equipment. “Without equipment, no offensive, only losses,” he summarizes. French military expert Michel Goya believes that the Ukrainian operation is “quite limited, quite symbolic” but that it “allows us to maintain pressure on the Russians, who are obliged to shift part of their reserves to the Dnieper, to the detriment of other sectors of the front.
For his part, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu assured this Tuesday that his army was repelling “all Ukrainian landing operations” on the occupied bank of the Dnieper River. “All attempts have failed,” said the minister who, in the process, was contradicted by well-informed specialized pro-Kremlin Russian bloggers. The Rybar Telegram account wrote to its 1.2 million subscribers on Tuesday that Ukrainian forces, on the left bank of the Dnieper, had taken an additional forest massif near Krynky, their main bridgehead, and were still managing to gain control. refuel. It also reports operations further west, near Gola Prystan.