Russia is said to have moved its Guards Tank Army to southern Ukraine. Kyiv then responded with a double counter-offensive. “Ours are putting the pressure on,” said a security adviser. Kyiv has officially admitted rocket attacks on Crimea for the first time. You can find all the latest news about the war in Ukraine here in the ticker.
Thursday, September 8, 5:13 a.m.: Despite the joy at the advance of his army, Zelenskyy kept a low profile: “Now is not the time to name this or that settlement to which the Ukrainian flag is returning.” Officially, the events are not commented on because of an information block. Videos and photos from recaptured villages around Balaklija are piling up on social networks. According to Russian correspondent reports, the Ukrainian army is attacking there at a width of 20 to 30 kilometers. According to these sources, the Russian units are under considerable pressure, and some units are threatened with encirclement.
Apparently, there were also gains in the south in the Cherson region. The general staff report from Kyiv on Wednesday named Russian air and artillery attacks on several towns that were previously considered Russian controlled. “Every success of our military in one direction or another changes the situation along the entire front in Ukraine’s favour,” said Zelenskyy.
Presumably under the impression of this offensive, the Russian military administration wants to postpone referendums on the accession of the occupied southern Ukrainian territories to Russia until November 4th. Previously, an appointment in the first half of September was considered the desired date.
5:59 p.m .: After almost a month, Kyiv has committed to attacking several air bases on the Crimean peninsula annexed by Russia. “It’s about a series of successful rocket attacks on the air bases in Crimea, primarily around the Saki airfield,” wrote Ukrainian commander-in-chief Valeryi Zalushnyi in an article published by the state news agency Ukrinform on Wednesday. Up to ten Russian warplanes were destroyed.
Zalushny did not say which missiles were used. The aim of the attacks is to make it clear to the Russians, even in remote areas, that there is a real war with losses and defeats. Zalushny does not expect the war to end in the current year.
According to him, the Ukrainian armed forces want to expand these attacks in 2023, but this would require new weapon systems from Western partners. Zalushnyj mentioned rockets with a range of up to 300 kilometers for the US Himars rocket launchers. A new meeting of Western supporters on further arms deliveries for Kyiv is planned for Ramstein on Thursday.
Wednesday, September 7th, 8:21 a.m.: The US think tank “Institute for the Study of War” reports that parts of the Russian elite tank army have been deployed to southern Ukraine for the first time. This transfer of Russian forces is believed to have provoked Ukraine’s counter-offensive in Kharkiv on Tuesday, the report said.
Obituaries of Russian soldiers indicate that Russia did not transfer parts of the 147th Artillery Regiment of the Motorized Rifle Division of the 1st Guards Tank Army to the Kherson region until the end of August at the earliest.
Ukrainian security expert Oleksiy Arestovych stated that Ukraine has launched a counter-offensive not only in the east but also in the south. The double attack is intended to tie up Russian reserves and prevent the Russian army from reinforcing one sector of the front at the expense of the other. “Ours are putting pressure, really putting pressure on them,” said Arestovych.
7:29 p.m .: The head of administration in the southern Ukrainian port city of Berdyansk, who is loyal to Russia, was injured in an attack. According to previous reports, a bomb had exploded under the car of city commander Artjom Badrin. Gunfire was also reported in the center of the port city on the Sea of Azov. In recent weeks, several attacks have been carried out on Ukrainian officials who collaborate with the occupying power.
10:44 a.m .: The Ukrainian military claims to have destroyed four Russian ammunition depots in the Kherson region. The southern command of the Ukrainian armed forces said bridges across the Dnieper were also under fire. After little was initially known about the course of the Ukrainian counter-offensive in southern Ukraine, the authorities recently reported progress in the north of the Cherson region. The town of Wyssokopillja is said to have been liberated on Sunday. The hoisted flag should be visible on a photo.
Tuesday, September 6th, 9:31 am: The British Ministry of Defense announces that Russia’s drone inventory is dangerously dwindling. Given the combat losses, it is likely that Putin’s army will have trouble maintaining its inventory of unmanned drones.
The lack of necessary components brought about by Western sanctions exacerbates the difficulties. The limited availability of reconnaissance drones is likely to affect Russian operations.
9:34 p.m .: According to the Kiev general staff, the Russian army again fired artillery and fighter planes at dozens of locations in Donbass in eastern Ukraine on Monday. The evening report by the Ukrainian military leadership also listed eight places where Russian assaults had been repelled. This included the area around the town of Bakhmut in the Donetsk region, where the Russian advance has been stuck for weeks. However, the military information was not immediately independently verifiable.
According to local authorities, a Russian rocket hit a fuel depot near the industrial city of Kryvyi Rih. The shelling also hit other places in the Dnipropetrovsk region in central Ukraine. A woman was killed and three were injured.
12.08 p.m .: In the Kherson region, smoke appears to be rising over the Darievsky Bridge. This is reported by the opposition Belarusian information channel Nexta. The bridge is used by the Russian troops to support their troops.
8.40 a.m .: According to British intelligence, the Russian army missed its target in eastern Ukraine. In the daily situation report, the secret service writes: “The political goal of the operation in Donbass remains the complete conquest of the Donetsk region. With this, the Kremlin could announce ‘liberation’. But it is very likely that the Russians have repeatedly missed their deadlines to achieve this to achieve goal.
Furthermore, the Russian offensive in the Donetsk region is progressing very slowly. Putin’s forces continue to be concentrated on the main axis of Avdiivka (near the city of Donetsk) and 60 kilometers further north around Bakhmut. But the progress here is about one kilometer per week, according to the British.
Monday, September 5, 2:27 am: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy opens an investigation into the explosion of a grenade launcher at a children’s event in Chernihiv. “Two people who were directly involved in the tragic incident in Chernihiv were arrested on suspicion of committing a crime,” said Zelenskyy in his nightly video address. 15 people, including eight children, were wounded in the explosion at an unscheduled exhibition of military equipment in the northern Ukrainian city on Saturday.
11:43 p.m .: In a new video message, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyj has confirmed the goal of recapturing the Black Sea peninsula of Crimea, which was annexed by Russia. “I believe that the Ukrainian flag and free life will return to Crimea. We are liberating our entire earth, all our people,” Zelenskyy said in the clip released in Kyiv on Sunday evening. For the liberation, the Ukrainian armed forces, military reconnaissance and special services are already taking all the necessary steps.
“And everyone can see: the occupiers have already started to leave Crimea. It’s the right choice for all of them,” said Zelenskyy. However, there is no evidence that the Russians actually withdrew from the peninsula. The head of state also recalled the “repression” against the Crimean Tatar population, whose freedom rights were being suppressed.
Russia incorporated Crimea into its territory in 2014. Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin justified the war against Ukraine on February 24 by saying that he saw indications of attempts by the Ukrainian leadership to take back Crimea using military force. Russia had always emphasized that it would not allow this under any circumstances.
Recently there had been massive explosions with devastating destruction and incidents with drones in Crimea. The already extreme security measures on the peninsula were then reinforced again. “The Russian presence has turned Crimea into one of the most dangerous and unfree places in Europe,” Zelensky said.
9:54 p.m .: According to information from Kyiv, the Ukrainian armed forces have freed the village of Wyssokopillja from the Russian occupation in the Cherson region. The deputy head of the presidential office, Kyrylo Tymoshenko, published a photo of the hoisted flag on his Telegram news service blog on Sunday. However, as early as June there were reports of the recapture of this town in the northern part of the region. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said at a military meeting that Ukrainian flags are increasingly returning to the places where they belonged.
“And there is no place for the occupiers in our country,” said Zelenskyy on Sunday, according to the presidential administration in Kyiv. He did not give details. According to media reports, Ukrainian troops also recaptured the village of Oserne in the Donetsk region on Sunday. This information could not be verified independently.
You can read more reports on the Ukraine conflict on the following pages.
