President Volodymyr Zelenskyy traveled near the front lines in southern Ukraine on Thursday, demanding missiles and planes from Europeans when his army falsely announced a Russian withdrawal from a city across the Dnieper in the same area.
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In the east of the country, in Bakhmout, where most of the fighting has been concentrated for months, the Ukrainian army has said it is observing “exhaustion” in Russian forces and intends to use it to launch a counterattack offensive “very soon”.
Mr Zelensky, who traveled near Bakhmout on Wednesday, appeared on Thursday near Kherson, a city the Russians withdrew from in November 2022, to cross the Dnieper, the natural border between the two armies , withdraw.
A few hours after his trip, Ukraine’s defense ministry said Russian forces had withdrawn from their positions in Nova Kakhovka on Wednesday, a pre-war town of 45,000 east of Kherson that is notably home to a hydroelectric power plant.
Information was then denied by Ukrainian staff, who realized an error.
“The inmates are still temporarily in Nova Kakhovka. Information about the alleged enemy withdrawal from this place was released due to incorrect use of available data,” he said.
The false announcement was also immediately denied by the Russian occupation of that region, which Moscow allegedly annexed.
“I officially declare that all Russian servicemen remain in their positions in Nova Kakhovka, as well as other places on the left bank of the Dnieper,” Vladimir Saldo, a local pro-Russian official, wrote on Telegram.
Witnesses in Nova Kakhovka contacted by AFP also said Russian troops were still there.
President Zelensky, who was traveling in the region on Thursday, made a particular appearance in Posad-Pokrovské, a place which was badly damaged and was in the hands of the Russian army until its departure in the autumn.
Mr. Zelensky also visited a power plant that was damaged during the wave of strikes against Ukrainian power plants in winter.
According to the Presidency, this stay focused on reconstruction in the Kherson region.
The President then videoconferenced from a train the European leaders meeting at the summit in Brussels to ask for long-range missiles and warplanes.
He also called for the passage of new sanctions against Russia, progress on his country’s accession to the EU and progress on his peace plan, according to a European official.
Many Western countries are reluctant to ship arms to Kiev for fear of escalating the conflict by allowing Ukraine to attack Russian territory.
However, some European countries have announced that they are ready to supply Ukraine with Soviet-made fighter jets. Four MIG-29s were delivered to Ukraine on Thursday, the Slovakian Ministry of Defense announced. Poland has also pledged to provide 4 MIG-29s.
The Europeans also on Monday agreed to allocate 2 billion euros to fund the joint purchase of artillery ammunition, which Ukraine badly needs to counter Russian troops’ offensive in the east.
For months, most of the fighting has been concentrated on the Eastern Front, particularly in Bakhmout, a town that has become the scene of massive destruction and heavy casualties on both sides.
Despite slow progress, Russian forces still failed to capture the city and met stiff resistance.
“The aggressor does not despair of taking Bakhmout at any cost, despite the loss of people and materiel,” commander of Ukraine’s Ground Forces Oleksandre Syrsky told Telegram.
Russian troops in Bakhmout, including Wagner Group paramilitaries, are “going out,” he added, assuring that “we will seize this opportunity very soon.”
Mr Zelensky’s trips near Bachmout on Wednesday and near Kherson on Thursday come just after a summit between Vladimir Putin and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping in Moscow, where they demonstrated their alliance against the westerners.
The Russian president cautiously backed China’s plan to settle the conflict in Ukraine, but accused Kiev of opposing it.
According to press reports, Xi Jinping could now call Volodymyr Zelenskyy in a first since the start of the Russian invasion, which Beijing has neither publicly condemned nor openly supported.