A major push in the southern Zaporizhzhia province Wednesday appears to signify Ukraine has launched a more aggressive phase of what so far has been a slow-developing counteroffensive aimed at recapturing territory from Russian occupation.
The Russian Defense Ministry claimed to repel the massive assault led by three battalions near the town of Orikhiv. But a Kremlin-appointed official in the heavily fortified region, Vladimir Rogov, remarked on social media that “the second wave of the counteroffensive has begun,” pointing out the Ukrainians were riding tanks provided by the West.
Pentagon officials confirmed that after nearly two months of mostly probing for Russian weak spots, a revitalized Ukrainian onslaught is underway, bolstered by fresh reinforcements including many Western-trained troops, the New York Times reported. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity to reveal information about the campaign.
At a White House briefing with reporters Wednesday, National Security Council spokesman John Kirby was asked about the limited progress Ukraine has made and said, “They are moving, it’s not a stalemate. They’re not just frozen. The Ukrainians are moving.”
Ukrainian officials were coy about the latest thrust. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy concluded his nightly video address by saying, “By the way, today our guys at the front had very good results. Well done. More details later.”
Developments:
◾ A former leader of a now-banned pro-Russian political party has been charged with high treason, the Ukrainian State Bureau of Investigation announced. Vadym Rabinovych spread anti-Ukrainian propaganda at home and among political leaders in the EU, investigators said.
◾ Kirby said the U.S., Ukraine and their allies are working on finding ways to export Ukrainian agricultural products by land, “But that’s not as efficient. It’s not effective. You can’t move as much or as fast via land routes.”
◾ The Moldova Foreign Affairs Ministry ordered Russia to send home 45 of its more than 80 embassy personnel by Aug. 15. The decision was the result of “numerous unfriendly actions” and Russian efforts to destabilize the country, the ministry said.
◾ Ukrainian Security Service head Vasyl Malyuk said Wednesday on state television that his agency was responsible for the October attack that severely damaged the Kerch Bridge linking Kremlin-occupied Crimea with Russia, a rare admission of a covert operation by an Ukrainian official.
◾ Ukrainian law enforcement agencies are investigating claims that Yury Aristov, a member of Zelenskyy’s Servant of the People party and deputy chairman of parliament’s national security committee, traveled to the Maldives in mid-July despite a ban on officials traveling abroad for leisure.
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African leaders skip summit; Russia blames US pressure
A scaled-down Russian summit of African leaders convening Thursday in St. Petersburg appears poised to draw about half as many heads of state as a similar conference four years ago, apparently because of global concerns over Moscow’s bold invasion of Ukraine.
Russia’s withdrawal from the Black Sea Grain Initiative, which provided a lifeline of desperately needed grain shipments from Ukraine to multiple African nations, will be among crucial topics at the event.
“I sure hope Mr. Putin is willing to be honest with African leaders about the effect this is having or could have on” their countries, National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters at the White House.
Yuri Ushakov, foreign policy assistant to Russian President Vladimir Putin, acknowledged that fewer than half the 49 countries participating this year will be represented by heads of state, down from 43 at the inaugural summit four years ago. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov blamed the West for the low turnout, accusing the U.S., France and other nations of putting “unprecedented pressure” on African leaders to skip the gathering.
“Once again, (we will) continue the conversation on the grain deal, which has ceased to operate, about the reasons for this,” Peskov said.
Ukrainian pilots will get F-16 training in Romania and Denmark
Details about the plans to train Ukrainian pilots to fly F-16 fighter jets are starting to filter out, though much information remains under wraps.
Kirby told reporters some of the training will be conducted in Romania and Denmark. “The dates, locations, the length of the syllabus, that’s still being worked out,” said Kirby, adding that other sites are also being considered.
After longtime opposition, the Biden administration said it May it would grant permission for its allies to provide Ukraine the U.S.-made warplanes, while pointing out they would not be a factor in the current counteroffensive and were meant for mid- and long-term security needs.
As part of the training, Kirby said, the U.K. is teaching English-language skills to some Ukrainian pilots “so they can actually operate the controls in an F-16.”
Could cluster bombs actually save lives in Ukraine?
The Biden administration’s controversial decision to provide Ukraine with cluster bombs could result in fewer deaths, a former State Department special presidential envoy for arms control says. The artillery shells disperse scores of “bomblets” that explode above the ground and rain shrapnel over a wide area. Marshall Billingslea, a senior fellow at the conservative Hudson Institute think tank, acknowledges that a “very small fraction” of the bomblets can fail to detonate and could sit in the ground for years before being detonated by an unsuspecting passerby − even a child at play.
“That’s a horrific possibility,” Billingslea writes in a commentary for the Daily Mail. “However, this future risk cannot be considered in isolation from the fact that Ukrainians are fighting for their lives right now.” He also points out the cluster bombs Russia has been spraying across Ukraine have a much higher “dud” rate, up to 40%, than the under-2.35% rate of those supplied by the U.S.
The bombs were designed to counter the “human wave” infantry tactics Russia has adopted and to dislodge the kind of dug-in defenders that have slowed the Ukrainian counteroffensive, so they could help accelerate the end of the war, he says.
“If these purpose-built weapons bring the war to a speedier conclusion, they will be worth it,” Billingslea says.
Russian fleet appears poised to tighten blockade
Russia’s Black Sea Fleet has “altered its posture” since Russia pulled out of the Black Sea Grain Initiative, apparently preparing to enforce a blockade on Ukraine, the British Defense Ministry says. The agreement had helped moderate the involvement of the Black Sea in the war, the ministry said, warning that violence in the area could increase.
“There is a realistic possibility (the fleet) will form part of a task group to intercept commercial vessels Russia believes are heading to Ukraine,” the ministry said.
Contributing: Francesca Chambers and Anastasiia Riddle, USA TODAY
