The counter-offensive launched by Ukrainian forces is testing the war-weary country

“We need to have 6,000 people registered as volunteers, now there are 20 left.” This is the answer of Konstiantin Yukhimenko, head of the Regional Volunteer Center Zaporozhye, to the question about the fatigue caused by the war with no end in sight. This city of southern Ukraine It is the main gate for those fleeing from the occupied territories and is home 170,000 registered exilesAlthough the actual number may exceed 200,000, according to Yukhimenko, because many men do not apply for fear of being drafted. Aid organizations are now preparing for the wave of refugees that will arrive as the counter-offensive progresses on this southern front.

The passage of time has also done international non-governmental organizations change the mode. “Emergency funds are no longer coming to us, now we have to prepare projects and wait for them to be approved. It’s all very bureaucratized and people become desperate, as we saw after the Kakhovka dam burst,” explains Yukhimenko, who was forced by the war at the age of 24 to change his profession from programming to managing humanitarian aid.

In Zaporizhia, minute by minute they are monitoring the development of the offensive, which is slowly progressing. According to General Oleksandr Sirsky, “the enemy continues to move some of the most combat-capable units towards Bakhmut, combining these actions with heavy artillery and air fire against our troops. Our plans need occasional adjustments.” In an interview with NBC, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky told his allies that despite “stiff resistance,” news of progress was “generally positive.” After meeting with Zelensky on Friday, a delegation of African leaders led by South African President Cyril Ramaphosa yesterday met with Vladimir Putin in Saint Petersburg. The adviser of the Ukrainian president’s office, Mikhailo Podoliak, believes that the African mission visited Kyiv only to request the suspension of the arrest warrant issued against Putin by the International Criminal Court. That order rules out Ramaphosa’s desire for the Russian president to attend the August Brics meeting in Johannesburg.