“Currently, at the level of the current front line between Russian and Ukrainian forces, serious fighting has resumed between Orekhov (Russian name of Orikhiv, editor’s note) and Tokmak,” Vladimir Rokov said in Telegram.
He did not give further details, but according to Alexander Slatkov, a correspondent for Russian public television, which has a Telegram channel of more than a million people, Russian and Ukrainian “artillery” is at work, with Kiev troops on the job. Attack for him.
“The long and hard fight is going on”, he wrote in an early morning telegram, adding that “the front line is stable”.
“The enemy is making incredible efforts, attacks. In vain. Ours is holding. The front line is protected,” he assured, claims that at this stage could not be verified by independent sources.
Earlier in the day, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said his forces had repelled a Ukrainian offensive in the Zaporizhia region overnight from Wednesday to Thursday, without giving the precise location of the attack.
Yevgeny Prigozhin, head of the Russian paramilitary group, said Kiev’s latest “offensive actions” saw the “beginning of a counteroffensive” that the Ukrainian military has been announcing for months to recapture occupied territories. Moscow..
Peace of Kiev
In its daily bulletin published Friday morning, the Ukrainian military did not report on these clashes, limiting itself to listing the trivial.
“The enemy is on the defensive,” the Ukrainian command simply wrote in a statement about the front in the Zaporizhia region.
However, the Ukrainian military said it destroyed four X-101 / X-55 missiles and ten drones overnight out of more than 20 missiles launched by Russia that targeted “military installations and critical infrastructure”.
According to observers, the Ukrainian army could attempt a breakthrough in the Zaporizhia region, towards Dokmok, 40 km south of Origiv, an important logistical hub for Russian forces and the last major outpost with the cities of Melitopol and Berdyansk. Black Sea.
However, Ukrainian civil servants have been tight-lipped on its real intentions, keeping its strategy vague, the better to surprise Russian defenses that have been preparing for months for a major offensive by troops from Kiev backed by modern Western equipment.
In recent weeks, Ukraine has tested Russian positions on the front lines from south to east, experts say, to maintain uncertainty before attempting a decisive offensive to retake the entire territory occupied by Russia, including Crimea, annexed in 2014.
Moscow, for its part, vows it wants to take all of the Donbass in the east of the country.
Slight decline at Gerson
In the neighboring region of Zaporizhia, Kherson, the effects of flooding caused by the destruction of the Kagovka Dam on the Dnieper River on Tuesday were still widespread on Friday morning.
However, in the city of Kherson itself, the water level began to drop “for the first time,” says Laura Mousiane, an employee of the local meteorological station.
“If yesterday the water was 5 meters above normal, today it is at a lower level,” he told AFP.
“It’s a good trend,” he said, four days after the spectacular destruction of the Kagovka Dam, a massive infrastructure located 70km upstream that forced thousands of civilians to evacuate flooded areas, with officials also fearing catastrophic consequences for wildlife. Plants.
But the situation remains delicate in areas around Kherson, such as Chornobaivka, where rising waters began on Wednesday.
“The water has already entered the houses and streets. Every two hours I go out to see if the water continues to rise,” said 45-year-old Tatiana Ionko. “I was too scared to sleep last night.”
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