Conflicts & War

Zelenskyy visits troops on front line as Russian bombs pound Donetsk

Kyiv/Moscow, Jul 8 (EFE).- Russian bombs continued to strike dozens of towns in the eastern region of Donetsk, amid warnings from president Vladimir Putin that his army has not yet used its full potential in Ukraine, whose own president Volodymyr Zelenskyy visited the front in Dnipro on Friday.

At least 25 localities in the Donbas came under attack by the Russian Armed Forces on Friday, according to the General Staff of Ukraine’s evening report.

Donetsk governor Pavlo Kyrylenko said on his Telegram account that six civilians were killed in Kramatorsk, Sloviansk, Avdiivka, Siversk, Pokrovsk and Orlivka, while 21 other people were wounded on Thursday.

Since Saturday, 35 civilians have died in the region, according to the daily casualty count published on Telegram.

The Office of the Commissioner for Human Rights of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic, Daria Morozova, said Friday that 26 civilians and 109 uniformed personnel had been killed by Ukrainian attacks since Saturday.

With the war in its fifth month, the Russian president warned Thursday that Russia “hasn’t started anything seriously yet” in Ukraine during an address to the leadership of the State Duma or lower house

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov specified on Friday that the president was referring to the fact that Russia has involved only a small part of its war potential in the military campaign.

“The head of state referred to the statements of the West and Kyiv that they will seek victory on the battlefield. Putin reminded that Russia’s potential is so great that only a negligible part is involved in the special military operation,” as Moscow calls the war in Ukraine, he stated.

In response, Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak tweeted: “There are 37,000 Russian soldiers killed and between 98,000 and 117,000 wounded or sick. 10 generals were eliminated. 1,605 tanks, 405 planes and helicopters were turned into scrap metal. Russia has not yet started fighting? Does the Kremlin only measure the war by Stalin’s arithmetic: 20 million dead?”

The Ukrainian president responded to Putin’s words on Friday by visiting advanced Ukrainian positions in the Dnipro region, which borders Donetsk to the west.

“I spoke with our defenders, presented them with awards. Their mood is determined, confidence in our victory is in their eyes,” he said, according to a statement on Telegram. EFE

mos-ks

Related Articles

Back to top button