This content was published on October 21, 2022 – 3:03 pm October 21, 2022 – 3:03 pm
MOSCOW/Lviv, 21 October (EFE).- Ukrainian forces today continued their offensive in the southern Kherson region while keeping an eye on the border with Belarus to counter a possible Russian offensive from that country’s territory.
The pro-Russian authorities of the Kherson region today denounced that four people, including a journalist, were killed and ten others injured in a Ukrainian missile attack on the already damaged Antonivka Bridge, which is closest to the city of Kherson, in the capital.
ATTACK ON JOURNALISTS AFTER PRORRUSOS
“We conclude that they primarily shot at journalists to kill those reporting on the situation in the Kherson region,” Moscow-appointed deputy governor Kiril Stremousov said on his Telegram channel.
He added that among those injured in the attack, three other journalists are in serious condition.
The spokeswoman for the Southern Command of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, Nataliya Gumenyuk, confirmed the missile attack on the bridge but assured that “there were no civilians there” at the time because a curfew was in place at the time.
Next to the Antonivka Bridge, the pro-Russian authorities have organized the evacuation of residents of Kherson by ferry to the left bank of the Dnieper, where they plan to take around 60,000 people by next Monday.
The evacuation continues and Khershho prepares to defend itself
“We will continue to evacuate the population of the right bank of the Kherson region,” added Stremoúsov, who stressed that “the city of Kherson, like a fortress, is preparing for defense.”
According to the Ukrainian General Staff, about 2,000 Russian soldiers, mobilized from Moscow in recent weeks, have arrived in the region to replenish losses and reinforce front-line units.
In the last day, Russian troops in the province have thwarted two offensive attempts by the Ukrainian army near the towns of Davidiv Brid and Sujiy Stavok, Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said today.
However, the Deputy Chief of Staff of the Presidency of Ukraine Kyrylo Tymoshenko today on his Telegram channel increased the locations published over the past few weeks to 88 from 75.
UKRAINE, PENDING BELARUS
Although the Ukrainian army is concentrating its efforts on the southern and eastern fronts, it does not lose sight of the situation on the border with Belarus, where a joint military group with a Russian component of up to 9,000 men, about 170 tanks, up to 200 armored and 100 artillery pieces.
British intelligence today said it was likely an attempt “to persuade Ukraine that it should redirect its forces to protect the northern border”.
The Institute for War Research (ISW) assessed the risk of a Russian offensive in this direction as “low”.
However, the deputy head of the Main Operations Department of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Oleksiy Gromov said the day before that “the threat of the Russian Armed Forces resuming the offensive on the Northern Front is growing”.
“This time the direction of the offensive can be changed to the west of the Belarusian-Ukrainian border in order to cut off the main logistical arteries for supplying arms and military equipment to Ukraine from partner countries,” he said.
The Ukrainian General Staff today appealed to Belarusians not to interfere in the “dirty war” that Russia is waging against the Ukrainian people.
“For centuries our peoples have been united by friendship and good-neighborly relations, many times in our history we have fought common enemies, we have always supported one another,” underlines the message in a video posted to Facebook.
According to the Ukrainian command, the leadership of Belarus “is preparing to join the Russian armed aggression against Ukraine in order to drag the Belarusian people into a dirty war.”
The appeal ends with a clear warning: “If the Belarusian army supports the Russian aggression, we will react. We will react with the same harshness with which we react to all occupiers on the territory of Ukraine.”
LUKASHENKO SAYS HE DON’T NEED A WAR
For his part, Belarusian President Alexandr Lukashenko today reiterated that his country will not enter the war in Ukraine together with Russia after news circulated about an alleged covert mobilization and the creation of a joint Belarusian-Russian force together with Russia .. the Ukrainian border.
“Don’t pay attention to that howling (media noise). We’re not going anywhere today. There is no war today. We don’t need him,” he said.
“We need to calm down. Everyone should do their own thing if we want there to be no war,” he added. EFE
mon/day
(photo) (video)
� EFE 2022. The retransmission and redistribution of all or part of the content of the EFE Services is expressly prohibited without the prior and express consent of Agencia EFE SA