the German Defense Minister on a surprise visit to kyiv – L’Express

⇒ kyiv advances around the Dnieper

⇒ German Defense Minister in kyiv

⇒ New military aid for Ukraine

Kiev claimed on Sunday to have pushed back the Russian army “from 3 to 8 kilometers” deep on 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 Kherson region (south). 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, while the counter-offensive was launched in June.

“Ukraine has a fairly large bridgehead on the left bank. The Russians suffer losses there because the right bank, controlled by the Ukrainian armed forces, is located on a hill and it is much easier for them to fire on Russian troops from there”, according to Vilnius-based Russian commentator and journalist Michael Nacke, sentenced in Russia in absentia to 11 years in prison for comments about the Russian army.

The leader of the occupied part of the Kherson region, Vladimir Saldo, admitted that “about one and a half companies” of Ukrainian soldiers, or several dozen or hundreds of men, had managed to anchor positions on the outskirts of the village of Krynky, while downplaying its importance.

A hospital, a mining building and other civilian infrastructure were damaged by a Russian drone and missile attack in eastern Ukraine, the Ukrainian military said Tuesday.

“The central hospital of the city of Selydove in the Donetsk region, the building of the Kotlyarevska mine and other civilian infrastructure were destroyed and damaged,” the Ukrainian Air Force said in a statement, without specifying whether there were any victims or whether the hospital was still functioning.

German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius arrived in kyiv on Tuesday for a surprise visit to reaffirm Berlin’s support for Ukraine in its fight against the Russian army.

Second supplier of military assistance to Ukraine after the United States, Germany seeks to reassure after Kiev expressed concern about the future support of its allies, mobilized by the outbreak of war in the Middle East. East.

“I am here again, first of all to pledge additional support, but also to express our solidarity and deep bonds, and our admiration for the courageous, brave and costly fight being waged here,” Mr. Pistorius laying flowers on Maidan Square in central Kiev.

Washington announced new military aid for Ukraine of $100 million on Monday, including anti-aircraft defense assets, on the day of Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin’s visit to Kiev. This new aid comes from funds already approved by the American Congress but which are dwindling pending the vote of a new budgetary envelope for Ukraine requested by President Joe Biden, but which remains on hold due to the opposition from Republican elected officials.

It includes Himars systems, artillery ammunition and anti-tank weapons, as well as small caliber munitions, according to press releases from the Pentagon and the State Department. The United States is by far the main provider of military aid to Kiev, and a reduction in its support, ardently demanded by some elected Republicans, would deal a severe blow to Ukrainian efforts to liberate the occupied south and east of the country.