The Kiev Army reported on Monday, July 10, significant advances by its troops in the east and south of the country, in the midst of its counteroffensive against Russia, which began last June. Meanwhile, the Kremlin released images of its chief of staff, Valery Gerasimov, for the first time since the failed Wagner mutiny, amid versions that have pointed to possible arrests and a “purge” within the Russian Army after the aborted uprising. of the paramilitaries.
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While the President of Ukraine is promoting his country’s possible accession to NATO to the Western allies, on the ground the local Army is clamoring for new advances in its counteroffensive against Russian troops.
This Monday, July 10, the deputy defense minister of the invaded nation, Hanna Maliar, assured that the Ukrainian forces reached a “definitive advance” in the besieged Bakhmut, in the east of the country.
His statements coincide with those of Colonel General Oleksandr Syrskyi, commander of Ukraine’s land forces, who noted that his troops are “progressing” in the city.
The “fierce fighting” continued in the southern areas of Melitopol and Berdyansk Maliar and “we are consolidating our gains in those areas,” the military high command said.
Kiev reports these positives in the midst of its counteroffensive to recover towns, cities and cities seized by Moscow in the conflict and after Russian troops, by then backed by the Wagner mercenary group, captured Bakhmut in May.
However, both sides continue to fight as they dispute control of the town.
In recent days, attention has been focused on the village of Klishchiivka, located on the heights south of Bakhmut.
Meanwhile, and in the midst of his tour of Europe, in a struggle to obtain “concrete” steps for the possible accession of his country to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), President Volodímir Zelenski assured that his military is also advancing in the south.
The Ukrainian military has “taken the initiative,” Zelensky noted, after a previous slowdown.
According to an update from the Ukrainian military institution released in the early hours of Monday, its Army has so far retaken up to 169 square kilometers on the southern front and 24 square kilometers around the eastern city of Bakhmut, since it began its counteroffensive last year. June.
However, the Russian troops do not give up on their occupationist intentions and on July 10 they continued their bombardments in different areas of Ukrainian territory. At least two elderly people were injured after a Moscow attack on an apartment building in the village of Inzhenerne, in Kherson Oblast, Governor Oleksandr Prokudin said.
Russian General Valery Gerasimov reappears on video
After several days without being seen publicly and information from the Russian press that even pointed to alleged arrests after the Wagner rebellion, the Kremlin released images of the Russian top general, the chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov, on Monday.
The military man was seen ordering his troops to destroy Ukrainian missile sites, according to a video released in recent hours. His first appearance in public since the failed mercenary mutiny on June 24.
Sitting in a military command center on a white leather seat chairing a meeting with top generals, Gerasimov, 67, also listened to a report from Viktor Afzalov, a deputy in General Sergei Surovikin’s Aerospace Forces. The latter has still not been seen in public since the abortive riot.
The images suggest that Russian President Vladimir Putin is keeping his two most senior military officers at their posts, at least for now. powerful: the Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and Gerasimov, despite demands by Wagner leader Yevgeny Prigozhin to fire them.
Prigozhin accused them of “incompetence” in directing military operations on the front lines and of causing a huge spillover in the mercenary ranks after leaving them short of arms and back-up. Accusations in the midst of which the unprecedented uprising broke out.
Several top-ranking generals in the Russian Army have disappeared, at least from public view, following Wagner’s failed rebellion against Moscow, sparking reports of imprisonment, sanctions and a “purge” within the powerful institution. castrate.
But the Kremlin has dismissed this information, disseminated by prestigious media such as ‘The New York Times’ and ‘Moscow Times’, which quote high-ranking officials from Washington and Moscow, calling it “rumours”.
With Reuters and local media
