The Ukrainian army had to withdraw from certain areas of the region, Moscow says it has destroyed missiles and drones over Russia and annexed Crimea. Washington announces a new section of American aid.
The Ukrainian army announced on the night of Tuesday to Wednesday that it had to withdraw from certain areas of the Kharkiv region, where Russian forces launched a surprise offensive last Friday.
The general staff specifies that they wanted “avoid losses” and evokes “counter-attack actions” to prevent “the invaders to gain a foothold”.
According to the Institute for the Study of War (ISW), the Russian offensive experienced a slowdown in its final hours with no aim of breaking through further into the Kharkiv region: _”_If the pace of Russian operations remains relatively low, Russian forces will likely focus on consolidating new positions and creating a lateral salient (…) by merging the efforts of Lyptsi and Vovchansk and creating a buffer zone in the border area, instead of pushing further”.
Missiles and drones destroyed over Russia and annexed Crimea
The Russian Defense Ministry said air defenses shot down 10 U.S.-supplied Ukrainian missiles aimed at Crimea early Wednesday, as U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken continued his visit to Kyiv.
The ministry said 10 Ukrainian ATACMS missiles supplied by the United States were destroyed over the Black Sea and Crimea.
Sevastopol Governor Mikhail Razvozhayev said air defenses had shot down several Ukrainian missiles over the Black Sea and near the Belbek air base. Fragments from the downed missiles fell in residential areas but did not cause any casualties, he said.
The Russian Defense Ministry said that in other Ukrainian attacks, Russian air defenses also shot down nine Ukrainian drones, two Vilha rockets, two HARM anti-radar missiles and two Hammer guided bombs over the region of Belgorod early Wednesday. Belgorod Governor Vuacheslav Gladkov said two people were injured in the village of Dubovoye when a Ukrainian rocket set their house on fire.
Five more Ukrainian drones were shot down over the Kursk region and three over the Bryansk region, according to the Russian military.
The Russian Defense Ministry also said another Ukrainian drone was shot down over the Tatarstan region. Tatarstan is located more than 1,000 kilometers east of the border with Ukraine.
Washington announces a new section of American aid
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced a $2 billion arms deal for Ukraine, with most of the money coming from a package approved last month.
The announcement was made on Wednesday, while Mr. Blinken was in kyiv to reassure Ukraine of the support of the United States, which is trying to repel a new Russian offensive.
At the final event on Wednesday as part of a two-day visit to Kyiv, Blinken said the Biden administration had approved a $2 billion medium- and long-term foreign military financing package for the Ukraine.
These programs typically send U.S. taxpayer money to U.S. defense companies to manufacture and ship weapons and other military supplies to the recipient country.