06/27/2023 06:43 (act. 06/27/2023 08:22)
Ukrainian President Zelenskyy (pictured during a visit to the front on June 26, 2023) in a video diary: “It’s a happy day”. ©Ukrainian Presidential Press Service/Brochure via Portal
According to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the Ukrainian counteroffensive is proceeding successfully.
“Today our soldiers are advancing in all directions, it’s a happy day,” he said in his daily video on Monday night. He wishes the soldiers more days like this one. Before his speech, which he delivered on a train, Zelenskyy visited several sections from the front.
It was a busy and exciting day, said the president. He toured the Bakhmut area and the south of the country in Zaporizhia and handed out several awards, including two gold stars for Heroes of Ukraine – the highest award in the country. In view of recent successes, Zelenskyy was convinced of victory against the Russian occupiers. The leadership in Kiev reported on Monday that another town in the Zaporizhia region had been recaptured. “All our land will be free – absolutely everything,” said the head of state.
Zelenskyy visits front near Donetsk
Army with 7 million men?
In the context of the Wagner mercenary group revolt, Russian negotiator Leonid Slutski pressed for a contract army of at least seven million military and civilian personnel. “The country does not need PMCs (private security and military companies) and the like,” says Slutski, leader of the Liberal Democratic Party, on the Telegram news app.
Putin spoke
According to Russian President Vladimir Putin, insurgent mercenaries from the Wagner Group can either join the Russian army or “go to Belarus”. He warned in a public statement late on Monday that any attempt at blackmail in Russia was “doomed to fail”. Putin thanked Russians for their “patriotism” during the abortive Wagner uprising over the weekend.
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