Oleksiy Danilov made the assessment via social media on Tuesday, Britain’s The Guardian newspaper reported.
Danilov, who is the secretary of Ukraine’s National Security and Defence Council, wrote: “At this stage of active hostilities, Ukraine’s defence forces are fulfilling the number one task – the maximum destruction of manpower, equipment, fuel depots, military vehicles, command posts, artillery and air defence forces of the Russian army.”
He added that “the last few days” of the counteroffensive “have been particularly fruitful.”
Danilov said: “Now the war of destruction is equal to the war of kilometres. More destroyed means more liberated. The more effective the former, the more the latter.“
He also stated: “We are acting calmly, wisely, step by step.”
Ukrainian army officer praises Polish Krab gun howitzers
Meanwhile, an officer in Ukraine’s mechanised forces has praised the role of Polish Krab self-propelled gun-howitzers in Ukraine’s counteroffensive operations near the eastern city of Bakhmut and in the southern Kherson region, Polish state news agency PAP reported.
Speaking under his war alias Rim, the officer, who commands a unit in Ukraine’s 61st Mechanised Brigade, said: “The Polish Krabs have been one of the key elements in maintaining our positions and counterattacking against the enemy in the Bakhmut and Kherson directions.”
He told PAP: “I witnessed their performance because I was directly involved in correcting the fire using these weapons. My assessment of the Krabs is overwhelmingly positive.”
Death toll rises from Russian drone attack on Ukraine’s Sumy
Russia this week struck a residential building in Ukraine’s northeastern city of Sumy with unmanned aerial vehicles, killing at least three people, officials confirmed on Tuesday morning.
Sumy Mayor Oleksandr Lysenko said 21 people were injured in the attack on Monday, four of whom were taken to a hospital, Ukraine’s state broadcaster Suspilne reported.
Tuesday has been declared a day of mourning in the northeastern Ukrainian city, The Guardian reported.
Sumy, a city of 250,000, lies just around 50 kilometres from the Russian border; it is the capital of a province that is regularly targeted by Russian forces, resulting in civilian casualties and damage to infrastructure, The Kyiv Independent website reported.
Two killed in Russian shelling of Kherson, three injured in Chernihiv
Russia on Tuesday morning shelled Ukraine’s southern city of Kherson, killing a man and a woman, the Reuters news agency reported.
Damage was also done to property and the number of injured was being determined, according to local officials.
Three people were also injured in Russian shelling of Ukraine’s northern Chernihiv region early on Tuesday, Suspilne reported, as quoted by The Guardian.
Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, 2022, launching the largest military campaign in Europe since World War II.
Tuesday is day 496 of Russia’s war on Ukraine.
(pm/gs)
Source: PAP, Reuters, The Guardian, The Telegraph, The Kyiv Independent
