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Ukraine has enough weapons to begin counteroffensive, says foreign minister; Zelenskiy welcomes ‘the news we have been waiting for’ from Bakhmut
Ukrainian troops went on the attack at multiple points along the frontline in the Donetsk region on Monday, driving back Russian forces in at least two areas in what appeared to be the preliminary stages of Ukraine’s long-anticipated counteroffensive.
Ukraine has enough weapons to begin its counteroffensive, and the operation will give the country the victory it needs to join Nato, Ukrainian foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba told Reuters on Monday. Membership of the military alliance would “probably” only be possible for Ukraine after the end of active hostilities, Kuleba said in an interview in Kyiv.
Russia claimed to have repelled a “major offensive” in the Donetsk region and to have killed hundreds of Ukrainian troops, but the claims could not be independently verified. The defence ministry in Moscow said Ukraine had attacked with six mechanised and two tank battalions from two brigades.
The ministry claimed 250 Ukrainian troops had been killed, and 16 tanks, three infantry fighting vehicles and 21 armoured personnel carriers destroyed. It also claimed that Valery Gerasimov, the Russian chief of general staff, had been near the frontlines when the attack was repelled. The Russian defence ministry has consistently made exaggerated claims about the casualties its forces have inflicted.
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy welcomed on Monday what he called “the news we have been waiting for” from troops in Bakhmut, but gave no further details. “I am grateful to each soldier, to all our defenders, men and women, who have given us today the news we have been waiting for. Fine job, soldiers in the Bakhmut sector!” Zelenskiy said in his nightly video address.
The US imposed sanctions on members of a Russian intelligence-linked group for their role in Moscow’s efforts to destabilise democracy and influence elections in Moldova, the Treasury department said. The sanctions target seven individuals, several of whom maintain ties to Russian intelligence services, the department said. They include the group’s leader, Konstantin Prokopyevich Sapozhnikov, who organised the plot to destabilise the government of Moldova, which borders Ukraine, earlier this year.
The British foreign secretary, James Cleverly, met Zelenskiy in Kyiv. They discussed preparations for the Nato summit in Lithuania next month and Ukraine’s plan for ending Russia’s invasion. During the meeting, Cleverly said: “Ukraine will win this war and can count on our support.”
Vladimir Rogov, a Russian-installed leader in the occupied Zaporizhzhia oblast has rebuked those sharing information. He wrote on Telegram: “Friends, I ask you not to rush to publish news about the mass use of Leopard [tanks] on the Zaporizhzhia front. Wait for the official or at least video confirmation of their use by the enemy in our direction. Observe information hygiene!” Alexander Khodakovsky, the head of the pro-Moscow Vostok Battalion in the Donbas, had posted to Telegram to say that “the situation on Novodonetsk and to the left towards Velykonovosilkivskyi is difficult” and that “for the first time we saw Leopards [tanks] in our tactical area”.
Pavlo Kyrylenko, Ukraine’s governor of Donetsk, said three people were killed in the region as a result of Russian attacks.
Two drones fell on the M3 Ukraine highway, in the Russian region of Kaluga, just south of Moscow, the region’s governor said. There was no detonation and the sites have been cordoned off by investigators, said governor Vladislav Shapsha on Monday.
Poland’s agriculture minister has received a draft regulation from the European Commission extending a ban on Ukrainian grain imports until 15 September, he said on Monday.
Belgium will ask Ukraine for clarification on reports that rifles made in Belgium had been used by pro-Ukrainian forces to fight Russian troops inside Russia’s western border, Belgian prime minister Alexander De Croo said on Monday.
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