09/17/2023 9:49 pm (current 09/17/2023 9:50 pm)
Ukrainian president satisfied ©APA/AFP
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy thanked the units involved in recapturing the city of Klishchiivka in the east of the country. “Today I would like to especially mention the soldiers who are gradually retaking Ukrainian property, especially in the Bakhmut area,” Zelensky said Sunday night. “Klishchiyivka. Stunning guys,” he said. The Ukrainian military had previously reported recapturing the southern town of Bakhmut.
There was fierce fighting for weeks over Klischchiivka, which was occupied by the Russians earlier in the year. With the liberation of the city, the tactical situation of the Russian occupation troops in Bakhmut deteriorates. The Russian military now faces the danger of being held in pincers by the north and south.
In addition to the Ukrainian military, Zelensky expressed his gratitude to the country’s rescue teams. Since the Russian war of aggression began about a year and a half ago, Russian troops have also shelled many Ukrainian cities far behind the front. Ukrainian civil defense officials have therefore been mobilized for months to save the injured and also to recover the dead.
According to media reports, several explosions occurred in the port city of Sevastopol on the Crimean peninsula on the Black Sea. The Russian Defense Ministry, however, simply announced on Sunday: “Two Ukrainian drones were destroyed by air defense in the southwestern part of the Crimean peninsula.” Meanwhile, several Telegram channels published photos showing the glow of the fire over the city. Residents reported a strong burning smell. Russia annexed the Ukrainian peninsula in 2014, in violation of international law.
According to the Moscow-appointed governor of Sevastopol, Mikhail Razvoshayev, no infrastructure objects were hit. The port city is also the base of the Russian Black Sea Fleet. Raswoshayev explained the smell of fire with a smoke screen that the Navy used to provide visual protection against drones. “Yes, the smell is unpleasant, but completely harmless,” he wrote on Telegram.
In recent days, Ukraine has repeatedly attacked targets in Crimea with drones and cruise missiles. Among other things, a shipyard and two warships were damaged; a day later, according to information from Kiev, a modern S-400 anti-aircraft unit was also destroyed. Russia has not yet confirmed the loss of the S-400. Ukraine has been defending itself against a war of Russian aggression for a good year and a half.