The President of Ukraine with soldiers during a visit to the Donetsk region.
(Photo: dpa)
Kyiv According to President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, the Ukrainian army has not suffered any losses in its ongoing counter-offensive. “In some areas our fighters are moving forward, in some areas they are defending their positions and withstanding the assaults and intense attacks of the occupiers,” Zelensky said in his evening video address on Monday. “We didn’t lose any positions, just liberated.”
At the same time, however, there was talk in Kiev of bitter resistance by the Russians and of a “difficult situation” at the front. In the south of the country, the Russian occupiers met with “bitter resistance”, wrote the Ukrainian commander-in-chief Valery Saluschnyj on Telegram.
The Ukrainian advance was hampered by fortifications, dense minefields and a “large number of reserves”. “The operation will continue according to plan,” Zalushnyj assured.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maljar reported on a “difficult situation” and heavy fighting in eastern Ukraine. The Russian military is trying to regain the initiative at Kupyansk in the Kharkiv region and at Lyman in the adjacent Luhansk region, she said.
Russia invaded neighboring Ukraine on February 24, 2022 and has been waging a war of aggression ever since. Almost two weeks ago, the Ukrainian army launched a long-awaited counter-offensive and, according to its own statements, has been able to liberate eight villages and a good 113 square kilometers since then. While international observers also repeatedly note minor Ukrainian successes, Moscow always claims to fend off all attacks.
Stoltenberg: Formal NATO invitation to Ukraine is no longer an issue
NATO Secretary General Stoltenberg does not assume that NATO will already fulfill Ukraine’s request for a formal invitation to the alliance at the forthcoming summit in July. “At the Vilnius summit and in the preparations for the summit, we are not discussing issuing a formal invitation,” said Stoltenberg after a meeting with Chancellor Olaf Scholz in Berlin. “What we are discussing is how we can bring Ukraine closer to NATO.”
Selenski had repeatedly emphasized in recent weeks that he was expecting a formal invitation to the summit in Vilnius, Lithuania. According to Stoltenberg, this is no longer discussed. However, there is agreement among the allies that NATO’s door is open and that Ukraine already had the prospect of joining at the Bucharest summit in 2008.
Macron: Samp/T anti-aircraft system deployed in Ukraine
France and Italy have delivered the Samp/T anti-aircraft system to Ukraine, which is now deployed in the country attacked by Russia. The system protects important facilities and human lives there, said French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris. Samp/T is an air defense system jointly developed by France and Italy since the early 2000s. It is considered flexible and effective for defense against aircraft and missiles.
This is how the Handelsblatt reports on the Ukraine war:
What will be important on Monday
Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier begins a two-day state visit to the former Soviet republic of Kazakhstan in Central Asia on Tuesday. Kazakhstan is economically interesting for Germany because of its oil wealth, among other things. For example, the PCK refinery in Schwedt, Brandenburg, obtains oil from Kazakhstan, among other sources, after no Russian oil has come through the Druzhba pipeline since January due to the Russian war in the Ukraine.
More: All developments in the Ukraine war in our news blog