Ukraine updates: Russian bomber destroyed by air defenses

Events on the battlefield in Ukraine are a matter of “life and death” for Russia that might decide its destiny, President Vladimir Putin stated.

“I think it is still important for us, and even more so for our listeners and viewers abroad, to understand our way of thinking,” Putin stated in an interview broadcast on state tv.

“Everything that is happening on the Ukraine front: For them, it is an improvement of their tactical position but, for us, it is our fate, it is a matter of life and death,” he stated.

The Kremlin has repeatedly portrayed the almost two-year-old full-scale invasion of Ukraine as a wrestle for Russia’s survival, in an try and whip up patriotic sentiment amongst a inhabitants largely apathetic in regards to the offensive.

Ukrainian forces repelled a Russian offensive on the southern entrance, the Ukrainian navy stated on Sunday. The information follows the withdrawal of Ukrainian troops from the devastated jap city of Avdiivka.

“Defense forces in the Zaporizhzhia sector defeated yesterday’s Russian offensive,” Ukrainian navy stated on Telegram messaging app.

The navy stated 18 armoured automobiles together with three tanks had been destroyed and that the Russians “retreated to their previous positions.”

The southern Zaporizhzhia course turned the principle focus of theUkrainian counteroffensive in the summertime of 2023 though there have been no vital breakthroughs and only some settlements had been liberated.

Ukraine’s forces destroyed 12 Russia-launched assault drones in a single day in addition to one Kh-59 cruise missile and one Su-34 fighter-bomber, Ukraine’s Air Force chief stated on Sunday.

“I want to thank Air Force units for their successful combat work!” Mykola Oleshchuk wrote on the Telegram messaging app.

However, not all targets had been intercepted. At least three individuals have been killed in Russian drone and missile assaults in jap Ukraine, native leaders stated.

Two our bodies have been recovered so removed from the rubble of a residential constructing within the metropolis of Kramatorsk that was struck by a missile in a single day, stated Vadym Filashkin, the navy governor of the Donetsk area, on Telegram.

Oleh Syniehubov, the pinnacle of the navy administration within the neighboring Kharkiv area, reported one lifeless and 5 injured in an assault on a two-storey residential constructing within the front-line metropolis of Kupiansk.

Earlier, Ukrainian troops within the jap Ukrainian area of Donetsk had been compelled to retreat from the economic metropolis of Avdiivka. The Russian air drive had been bombing Ukrainian positions on the entrance line with precision-guided bombs for days. 

dh/rc (AFP, AP, dpa, Reuters)