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Zelenskyj talks about Ukrainian successes

“Thanks to our men for every Ukrainian flag returning to its rightful place in the villages of the newly liberated areas,” Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a video message circulated in Kiev on Monday evening. “The fighting is tough, but we are making progress and that is important.” However, in the morning there were new attacks on Ukraine – according to authorities there, several people died in the southeastern city of Kryvyi Rih when a missile hit a residential building.

For days, the Ukrainian army has reported the liberation of a growing number of villages, especially in the Donetsk region, which had been annexed by Russia. So far, seven cities have been liberated and 90 square kilometers are back under Ukrainian control, Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maljar said in Kiev.

“The enemy’s casualties are exactly what we need,” Zelenskyy said after meeting with generals about the situation in the front area. Especially around the city of Bakhmut, which was declared occupied by Russia at the end of May, Ukrainian control is being expanded. The meeting with the troop leadership was about military successes, but also about the question of where reinforcements were needed at the front to break through the Russian defenses.

The current developments in the live ticker:

Zelenskyj: «We will maintain and strengthen our operational dominance»

Zelensky also said that the conditions for combat operations today are unfavorable due to the weather. Rain softens the soil and makes the terrain less suitable for heavy military equipment. “The strength of our fighters continues to deliver results,” the president stressed.

Selenskyj also praised the fact that Russian prisoners of war were being taken. This helps to build up more bargaining chips for a trade for your own soldiers from Russian captivity.

Measures to stabilize the situation in the liberated areas were also discussed with the military leadership. Work is underway to deliver the necessary weapons and ammunition there. “We will maintain and strengthen our operational dominance,” said Zelenskyj. “We believe in victory, which will come.”

Ukraine has been defending itself against the Russian offensive war for more than 15 months. Weapons and ammunition from Western countries help her with that. Russia recently downplayed the successes of the Ukrainian counter-offensive, describing them as insignificant. Nevertheless, Moscow had named the conquest of the entire Donetsk region as the war objective. This project was further away.

Governor: Dead in rocket-hit apartment building in southeastern Ukraine

The military governor of the Dnipropetrovsk region, Serhiy Lyssak, told Telegram early Tuesday morning that several people were killed and injured in the “massive rocket attack on Kryvyi Rih”. The head of the local military administration, Olexander Wilkul, had previously reported an impact on a five-storey building and wrote that people were probably still under the rubble. Air raid sirens were also declared in other regions of Ukraine. The Russians had again fired cruise missiles, including at the capital Kiev, the authorities there said. There, however, the air defense shot down all enemy flying objects. There were reports of drone strikes from the eastern city of Kharkiv.

Paris, Warsaw and Berlin discuss security guarantees for Kiev

Meanwhile, Ukraine continues to hope for concrete prospects to ensure its security after the long-awaited end of the Russian offensive war. Germany, France and Poland discussed such long-term security guarantees in Paris on Monday evening. Chancellor Olaf Scholz met French President Emmanuel Macron and Polish President Andrzej Duda there.

Before the joint deliberations, Duda appealed: “Ukraine is waiting for a clear signal regarding a clear prospect of membership in NATO.” This is the expectation of the Ukrainian leaders and the soldiers defending their country. He hopes that the upcoming NATO summit on July 11-12 in Lithuania will bring the “light at the end of the tunnel” that Ukraine has been waiting for.

Scholz said the main efforts are currently focused on supporting Ukraine in its defense against Russia. “We will continue to do this as long as it takes, we are prepared for that.” Nevertheless, the intensive debate on security guarantees makes sense, says the SPD politician. Macron was also more reserved than Duda. They want to talk about “NATO support for Ukraine, to give it all the perspectives it is entitled to,” said the French president. He hopes that the upcoming NATO summit will make it possible to lead the way and develop a clear vision for the future of collective security.

At the NATO summit in the Lithuanian capital Vilnius, Ukraine wants to gain concrete insight into joining the defense alliance. However, key allies are slowing down. For what is likely to be a long transitional period, talks are underway to upgrade the existing NATO-Ukraine Commission to a new NATO-Ukraine Council. Such a joint consultative forum would be an important step towards discussing important security issues with Ukraine on an equal footing.

Macron also said the Ukrainian counter-offensive, which began a few days ago, should last several months. France has recently expanded its supply of arms and ammunition and is still supplying. “There is a counter-offensive. We wish it to be as successful as possible to then start a negotiation phase under good conditions,” Macron said. The Russian offensive war is already a strategic and geopolitical failure for Russia.

What will be important on Tuesday

The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Rafael Grossi, is expected in Kiev. He wants to clarify outstanding questions about the cooling water supply for the Ukrainian nuclear power plant Zaporizhia, which the Russian occupiers keep under control. The destruction of the Kakhovka dam on Tuesday a week ago caused the water level in the Dnipro river reservoir, which is used to cool the nuclear power plant, to drop.

It is feared that at some point it will no longer be possible to pump fresh water to cool the decommissioned reactors and the nuclear waste. The nuclear power plant would then depend on cooling ponds, which the IAEA said would be sufficient for several months. However, given the course of the war, experts from the IAEA and other organizations are concerned about the safety and sustainability of this interim solution. (con/sda/dpa)