Ukraine again claims land reclamation in Bakhmut

Ukraine has revealed that it has recovered about 20 square kilometers (km²) in recent days on the outskirts of Bakhmut, the epicenter of fighting in recent months. In the early hours of yesterday (16), Kiev was once again the target of air strikes by Russian forces. “In recent days our troops have liberated about 20 km² north and south of Bakhmut,” said Ukrainian Defense Minister Ganna Maliar. However, the official recognizes that “Russian troops continue to advance towards the city, which is being destroyed by artillery”. More than 90% of the city is controlled by Moscow troops. The leader of the Russian paramilitary group Wagner, Yevgeny Prigozhin, confirmed that the mercenary units “advanced 200 meters and occupied an area of ​​113 thousand square meters”. Only 1.46 km² remain in enemy control [ucraniano] in Bakhmut, he added. Prigozhin also announced in a video, published on Tuesday, the death of a US volunteer who was fighting alongside Kiev forces in eastern Ukraine. New attacks Overnight, Ukraine claimed to have repelled yet another attack by Russian forces in Kiev, with the shooting down of six Russian hypersonic missiles Kinjal and 12 other devices, including Kalibr cruise missiles, S-400 anti-aircraft missiles and Iskander ballistic missiles, as well as Iranian-made drones. Kiev Mayor Vitali Klitschko said three people were wounded in the attack, which came hours before Chinese envoy Li Hui arrived in the Ukrainian capital for a two-day visit. Moscow denies the shooting down of military equipment and claims that the Russian army destroyed a US-made Patriot system during the air strike on Kiev and intercepted six British long-range Storm Shadow missiles. A Ukrainian air force spokeswoman ruled out the possibility that a Russian Kinzhal missile had destroyed the Patriot air defense system. “It’s impossible,” Yuriy Ihnat told Reuters. Later, two US representatives stated that the Patriot system may have suffered damage, but that it was not destroyed. Ukraine currently has two Patriot air defense systems, one provided by the US and the other jointly donated by Germany and the Netherlands. F-16 fighters The United Kingdom and the Netherlands want to create an “international coalition” to support Ukraine with F-16 fighters, equipment considered essential and that Volodymyr Zelensky, for a long time, requested from Western allies. The announcement was made in Reykjavik, during the Council of Europe summit, by the Prime Ministers of the United Kingdom, Rishi Sunak, and of the Netherlands, Mark Rutte. Most North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) countries keep open the possibility of sending F-16s to Ukraine. “The prime minister reiterated his conviction that Ukraine’s rightful place is in NATO and the leaders agreed on the importance of allies providing long-term security assistance to Ukraine to ensure it can thwart future attacks.” spokesperson for Sunak’s office. The Ukrainian president has already reacted to the commitment announced by the United Kingdom and the Netherlands. For Zelensky, “it’s a good start”. “Thank you all”. France offered to train Ukrainian fighter pilots, but ruled out sending warplanes to Kiev. Russian soldiers killed The Ukrainian Armed Forces said on Wednesday that the number of Russian fighters killed since the invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022, exceeded 200,000 – a number far higher than what Russia recognizes. The General Staff of the Ukrainian Army declared, on Facebook, that “about 200,590 people were killed”, including 610 in the fighting registered in the last 24 hours, in the city of Bakhmut. The Ukrainian military claims that since the beginning of the war, 3,771 war tanks, 3,166 artillery systems, 318 anti-aircraft defense systems, 308 planes, 294 helicopters, 2,748 drones, 982 cruise missiles, 18 ships, 6,067 vehicles and fuel tanks and 417 pieces of “special equipment”. Russia has not provided data on casualties in the conflict since September, when Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu confirmed the deaths of 5,937 soldiers. The Russian news portal Mediazona raised the total number of deaths to 22,055, of which 2,367 in the last 15 days. These numbers were confirmed, according to the vehicle, by public data available in a survey carried out jointly with the British broadcaster BBC. *Reproduction of this content is prohibited

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