Russia has launched a push against Ukrainian troops in the Kursk region, according to DeepState. Blinken, Lammy arrive in Kyiv. Crimea’s return to Ukraine aligns with international law, Erdogan tells the Crimea Platform summit.
Russia launches a push against Ukrainian troops in Kursk region, according to DeepState
Russian forces have launched a push against Ukrainian troops in Russia’s Kursk region, DeepState, a Ukrainian OSINT project said on Wednesday. The Russians went on the counteroffensive in several directions.
According to DeepState, the situation for the Ukrainian group of forces has worsened on the left flank.
Russian forces launched an assault after they got armored vehicles across the Seym river and later across smaller rivers in the area, the analysts said.
“There was another push towards Snagost from Korenevo, [a town] that [Ukrainian troops] have recently lost control of,” the message reads.
A Russian armored vehicle convoy was spotted moving toward Snagost, an area of active combat, DeepState said.
Russian Telegram channel Vazhnye Istorii described Russia’s attempted assault operation as its “first major counteroffensive in Kursk region.”
Blinken, Lammy arrive in Kyiv
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and British Foreign Secretary David Lammy arrived in Kyiv on Wednesday for a series of meetings with senior government officials including Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi.
“Together we’re working to make sure that Ukraine can defend its territory against the ongoing aggression, that it will be able to stand strongly on its own two feet militarily, economically, democratically,” Blinken told a joint news conference with Lammy in London on Tuesday.
“One of the purposes of the trip that we’ll be taking together is to hear directly from the Ukrainian leadership, including President Zelenskyi about exactly how the Ukrainians see their needs in this moment, towards what objectives, and what we can do to support those needs,” Blinken said.
Blinken said he will report back to President Biden, who meets with UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Friday.
The U.S. and the UK could be close to granting Ukraine access to use long-range missiles against military targets inside Russia, but at this time there is no official decision on that yet.
When reporters asked if he was considering dropping the restrictions against Ukraine’s use of long-range weapons on Tuesday, the U.S. President Joe Biden said his administration was “working that out now”.
Crimea’s return to Ukraine aligns with international law, Erdogan tells Crimea Platform summit
Ukraine restoring sovereignty over Crimea aligns with international law, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Wednesday, addressing by video link the leaders gathered for the fourth meeting of the Crimea Platform in Kyiv.
“Our support for Ukraine’s territorial integrity, sovereignty, and independence is unwavering. The return of Crimea to Ukraine is a requirement of international law,” Erdogan said, according to Anadolu Agency.
Erdogan lauded Nariman Celal’s release from Russian captivity and expressed hope for the freedom of all Crimean Tatars.
Concluding his address, Erdogan said: “Our sincere wish is for the war to end with a fair and lasting peace based on Ukraine’s territorial integrity, sovereignty, and independence.”
On Wednesday, Kyiv hosted the fourth edition of the Crimea Platform summit. Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda, Latvian Prime Minister Evika Siliņa, President of the Czech Senate Miloš Vystrčil and Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenković attended the conference in person.