Did you miss the latest developments on the war in Ukraine? 20 Minutes gives you an update every evening. Between strong statements, advances on the front and the results of the fighting, here is the essential information from this Wednesday, the 938th day of the conflict.
The fact of the day
Has the Ukrainian army regained control of Russia? In any case, it claimed on Wednesday that it had stopped the Russian counter-offensive that began a few days ago in the areas of the Kursk region that it controls. The Russians “tried to attack from the flanks but they were stopped, the situation has stabilized and today everything is under control,” the spokesman for the Ukrainian regional command, Oleksiy Dmytrachkivsky, told AFP. “They have achieved some minor successes, but this success has now turned into a virtual encirclement for them,” he added.
However, the Russian counteroffensive has not yet failed, and Moscow claims to have launched new attacks to retake lost territory. “The Russian operation in the Kursk region is still ongoing, so it is too early to say that it has completely failed,” a senior Ukrainian official said on condition of anonymity.
Ukrainian drones also “destroyed” a warehouse containing missiles and artillery ammunition in western Russia, a source in the Ukrainian security service (SBU) said on Wednesday, with Russian authorities ordering evacuations due to a “fire”.
Statement of the day
” “We are not investing enough in Ukraine’s security and our own defense” »
These words are signed by Lithuanian Andrius Kubilius, former Baltic Prime Minister and appointed to the post of new European Commissioner for Defence. The creation of this post of Commissioner, unprecedented in Brussels, is a personal decision of the President of the Commission Ursula Von der Leyen who has made the strengthening of European defence one of the priorities of her new mandate at the head of the Commission.
In addition to Andrius Kubilius, the appointment of former Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas as head of European diplomacy has been known since June. The choice of these two former Baltic leaders already sends a strong signal to Russian President Vladimir Putin: the EU stands firmly behind Ukraine.
The figure of the day
“Several thousand.” That’s how many Russian civilians were still in Ukrainian-controlled territory in Russia on Wednesday, according to a spokesman for the Ukrainian regional command. They are mostly elderly people, but there are also children, he said, adding that one woman had given birth to a “healthy” boy in the territory.
The spokesman also accused the Russian military of launching airstrikes, including using gliding bombs, against its own territory in the area controlled by Ukrainian troops. At least “23 civilians killed” have been killed in these strikes since the end of August, he said. AFP is not able to confirm the veracity of these statements.
The spokesman denied any allegations of mistreatment of civilians by Ukrainian servicemen. “They receive water, food, bread, the military does not offend them,” he said, adding that shops and pharmacies were not operating.
The trend
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Wednesday that the “plan for victory” for Ukraine that he is to present to his American counterpart Joe Biden by the end of the month was “fully prepared.”
“The most important thing now is the determination to implement it. There is and can be no alternative to peace, no freezing of war or other manipulations that would only shift Russian aggression,” he said in his daily address. According to him, “all the key points and aspects” of this plan, the content of which he has not yet detailed, are ready.
Last week, he said he would meet with Joe Biden in September to present him with “a plan for victory” for Ukraine against Russia.
He said at the time that it was a “set of interconnected solutions that will give Ukraine enough power, enough things, to put this war on the path to peace.”
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