Ukraine destroys four helicopters deep in Russia\u2019s rear. Ukrainian troops recapture territory in Kharkiv region, a village in Luhansk. U.S., Ukraine delegations discuss a halt on attacks on ports.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ukraine destroyed four Russian helicopters in Russia\u2019s Belgorod region in an attack deep behind enemy lines. Ukraine\u2019s Special Operations Forces took out the two Ka-52 and two Mi-8 helicopters in a joint operation with Ukraine\u2019s military intelligence, rocket forces and artillery, the special forces said on Monday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The strike targeted a hidden staging area in the rear, a camouflaged landing platform, designed to quickly deploy or launch surprise attacks on Ukrainian troops. Ukraine used HIMARS rockets in the attack, according to the released footage. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ukraine\u2019s Special Operations Forces said in a statement that Russia \u201conce again thought\u201d that its forces were safe deep in the rear. \u201cWe have once again proven that there is nothing unattainable for the Special Operations Forces. Our work goes on,\u201d the message reads. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Ka-52 is an attack helicopter designed to conduct reconnaissance missions and strike ground targets. The Mi-8 is a transport helicopter, used to transport equipment and personnel, and support ground operations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ukraine\u2019s defense forces have retaken an area near the village of Dvorichna in Kharkiv region, a representative of the 429th Achilles Separate Regiment of Unmanned Forces, Oles Malyarevych told Ukrainian public broadcaster Suspilne on Monday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAs for Dvorichna, blue zones that are visible on a map by DeepState [a Ukrainian OSINT project], are the deoccupied parts of the territory. [The troops] have improved their positions. These were very important, but not large operations,\u201d Malyarevych said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Russian forces do not have territorial gains in the Kupyansk direction, yet they do not stop assaults there, he continued.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe enemy is now using infantry units and trying to make pontoon crossings, which is not new by itself. We find them when they near the [Oskil] river, and we don\u2019t always succeed. We take them out at pontoons or when they come close to them, and we destroy them on the left bank of the Oskil,\u201d Malyarevych said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
He added that Russia had taken \u201cquite serious losses\u201d on the right bank of the Oskil.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Russian forces that have managed to cross into the right bank and have not been destroyed \u201cdig holes and search for houses, trenches and basements,\u201d Malyarevych said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sometimes the map marks an area as red, or occupied, while \u201cthere are three-four persons in the sector.\u201d It does not mean that an enemy regiment \u201chas entered there and remains in the area,\u201d that\u2019s what characterizes fighting in this direction. \u201cThere is around half a thousand enemy\u2019s infantry troops there, but they are dispersed over a large area, and it is difficult to detect them and take them out,\u201d Malyarevych said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ukraine\u2019s Third Army Corps has recaptured a village of Nadiya that sits on the administrative line between Kharkiv and Luhansk regions. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The 1st Assault Battalion was the primary force in an operation to force the Russians out of the village. They retook three square kilometers of territory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe capture of Nadiya cost the enemy two months of effort and two wiped out mechanized regiments \u2014 the 752nd and 254th of the 20th Russian Army,\u201d Colonel Andriy Biletskyi, commander of the Third Army Corps, said on Sunday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ukraine officials held a round of talks with representatives of the U.S. in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on Sunday. Ukrainian Defense Minister and delegation chair, Rustem Umerov, said the talks had lasted about five hours. \u201cThe discussion was productive and focused \u2014 we addressed key points including energy,\u201d he wrote on social media. The delegations discussed a number of \u201ctechnical issues,\u201d including protection of energy facilities and critical infrastructure, he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Speaking of the talks in his nightly address, President Zelenskyi said the Ukrainian team was working \u201cin an absolutely constructive way.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
U.S. and Ukraine officials discussed a halt on attacks on the Ukrainian ports of Odesa, Mykolayiv and Kherson, advisor to the head of the Office of the President of Ukraine, Serhiy Leshchenko said on national television on Monday, commenting on the talks in Saudi Arabia the day before.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He said the discussions with American officials were about \u201cinfrastructure and shipping safety.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt was about a mutual ceasefire. We are not attacking their facilities at sea, including river facilities. They are not attacking our facilities and our ports,\u201d Leshchenko said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
– Kherson, Mykolaiv, and the ports of greater Odessa, so that they function.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He added that the ports in question included the ones in Odesa, Mykolayiv and Kherson. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
A prisoner swap and return of Ukrainian children were some of the issues on the agenda of the \u201ctechnical consultations.\u201d Leshchenko said the meetings will become \u201cquite regular.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Europe\u2019s Black Sea states are watching on nervously as US-Russia peace negotiations over Ukraine continue today in Saudi Arabia, fearful of a possible deal that would restore some of Moscow\u2019s clout over the contested waters, according to the Financial Times.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ukraine has successfully driven Russia\u2019s navy out of the western part of the sea, in one of Kyiv\u2019s most striking military achievements of the more than three-year-long war.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Any agreement negotiated is thus expected to be beneficial to Moscow, the officials said, and could affect their countries\u2019 security without giving them a say.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThis is our neighbourhood and we don\u2019t trust the Russians if they are allowed more freedom to operate,\u201d said one of the officials.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"