Kiev (BLAZETRENDS).- The Ukrainian Ministry of Defense announced today that its army recovered last week another 37 square kilometers of territory in the east and south of the country, where Kiev troops launched their ground counteroffensive against the Russian occupation forces.
In the east of the country, Ukrainian forces have regained control of 9 square kilometers in the last seven days. The liberated territory in the south was 28.4 square kilometers during this period, Ukrainian Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar specified in her Telegram account.
Since the start of the counteroffensive in early June, Ukraine has liberated a total of 158.4 square kilometers in the south of the country, according to data provided by the Deputy Defense Minister.
In the southern section of the front, Ukrainian troops are carrying out offensive operations in the direction of the occupied cities of Melitopol and Berdiansk. In these areas of the southern province of Zaporizhia and in the southwest of Donetsk, Ukraine has recovered a dozen towns in its counteroffensive.
In the east, Ukrainian attack actions are focused around the Russian-occupied city of Bakhmut, where Ukraine reports almost daily progress.
Maliar and the General Staff of the Defense of Ukraine also explained that Russia continues the offensive in Liman, Márinka and Avdivka, also on the eastern front. According to both sources, Ukraine is repelling these attempts to advance Russians.
Ukraine shoots down 13 of 17 Shahed drones launched by Russia
Russian forces launched a total of 17 Iranian-made kamikaze drones last night against Ukrainian territory, of which 13 were shot down by Ukrainian anti-aircraft defenses, the Ukrainian Air Force said in a statement today.
The four drones that were not intercepted “did not reach their targets.” According to the preliminary information available, they have caused no damage or casualties, according to the source.
The drones were launched from the southeast of Ukraine and were intercepted in various regions of the country.
“The anti-aircraft defenses were activated in the southern, eastern and central regions,” explained the Ukrainian Air Force about the areas where they were intercepted.
Russia attacks Ukrainian cities and infrastructure almost daily with Iranian attack drones. Most of them are shot down by Ukrainian air defenses. According to experts, Russia seeks to deplete Ukrainian air defenses and locate their emplacement with the use of these drones.
Russia claims to have thwarted an attack on the Crimean chief
The Federal Security Service (FSB, former KGB) of Russia, for its part, claimed to have thwarted an attack organized by the Ukrainian secret services against the head of the annexed Crimean peninsula, Sergei Axiónov.
In relation to the attempted attack, “a Russian citizen, born in 1988, who was recruited by the SBU (Security Service of Ukraine) and took a course on sabotage and handling explosives, was detained,” according to the FSB statement.
“In June 2023, the agent of the foreign secret service arrived in the Republic of Crimea and began preparations for the terrorist attack, which he planned to carry out by detonating an explosive device” against Axiónov’s car, according to the Federal Security Service.
The FSB indicated that the man was detained when he was trying to pick up an explosive device in a hideout in which he was hiding it.
Criminal proceedings were instituted against the detainee, who remained in pretrial detention, for attempted terrorist attack and possession and transport of explosives.
The Crimean chief stressed that “the terrorist threat coming from kyiv can only be eliminated only when the objectives of the special military operation” in Ukraine are met.