Weekly roundup. Ukraine resists Russia’s invasion. Days 705-709

This week, the fighting has raged across the frontlines. Ukraine has conducted a series of successful operations. Ukrainian troops have expanded footholds on the left bank of the Dnipro river in Kherson region. Early this week, Ukrainian forces destroyed a Russian Su-34 fighter jet over Luhansk region. Later in the week, Ukraine struck the Belbek airfield and sunk a Russian missile boat in Crimea.

All 27 EU leaders sealed a deal on a 50 billion euro aid package for Ukraine, marking a diplomatic win. The Pentagon has confirmed that Ukraine will receive its first batch of ground-launched small diameter bombs.

The Ukrainian government has submitted to the Parliament an amended version of the mobilization bill. Ukraine is among the countries that have made the most progress in 2023, according to the Corruption Perceptions Index.

Ukraine must focus militarily on three areas to defeat Russia, Ukraine’s army chief says. In his article for CNN, Commander-in-Chief of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, General Valeriy Zaluzhnyi says Ukraine must focus its efforts on three things this year to win the war against Russia. 

Read the full article here.

“In conclusion, in 2024, we must focus our main efforts in three areas.

Creating a system to provide our armed forces with high-tech assets.

Introducing a new philosophy of training and warfare which takes account of restrictions in assets and how they can be deployed.

And mastering new combat capabilities as soon as possible,” Zaluzhnyi says.

Ukraine already possesses capabilities to eliminate the enemy and ensure the existence of statehood, he writes.

“Our goal must be to seize the moment – to maximize our accumulation of the latest combat capabilities, which will allow us to commit fewer resources to inflicting maximum damage on the enemy, to end the aggression and protect Ukraine from it in the future,” the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine says.