Volodymyr Zelensky made the assessment in a video address to the nation on Friday night, Polish state news agency PAP reported.
The Ukrainian president said: “We must all understand very clearly - as clearly as possible - that the Russian forces on our southern and eastern lands are investing everything they can to stop our warriors.”
Zelensky stressed: ”Every thousand metres of advance, every success of each of our combat brigades deserves gratitude. Everyone who goes on the offensive, everyone who repels enemy attacks, are doing a great job, and I am grateful to each of our warriors!”
Ukraine ‘making gains’ against Russia in some areas in east and south: officials
Ukrainian forces continued counteroffensive operations against Russia in at least three directions on Friday and reportedly made advances in some areas, according to the Institute for the Study of War, a US think tank.
In its latest report on the war in Ukraine, published on Friday night, the ISW said: “Ukrainian forces continued counteroffensive operations on at least three sectors of the frontline on July 14 and reportedly made gains in some areas.”
Ukrainian troops continued offensive operations in the Bakhmut direction, in the eastern Donetsk region; in the Melitopol direction, in the southeastern Zaporizhzhia province; and in the Berdyansk direction, in the border area between Donetsk and Zaporizhzhia regions, the ISW said, citing Ukraine’s General Staff.
Ukrainian forces achieved partial success in the Bila Hora-Andriivka direction (9-15 kilometres southwest of Bakhmut), according to the Ukrainian General Staff.
Moreover, Ukrainian Deputy Director of the Department of Application Planning of the Main Directorate of the Ukrainian National Guard, Colonel Mykola Urshalovych, said that Ukrainian forces had advanced over 1,700 metres in unspecified places in the Melitopol direction, the ISW reported.
Meanwhile, Russian bloggers claimed that Ukrainian forces had accomplished “a localised breakthrough of Russian defensive lines,” north of the village of Pryyutne, 15 kilometres southwest of the settlement of Velyka Novosilka, in the Zaporizhzhia province, the ISW added.
Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, 2022, launching the largest military campaign in Europe since World War II.
Saturday is day 507 of Russia’s war on Ukraine.
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Source: PAP, president.gov.ua, ISW, The Telegraph
