Russian outlet RBC reports Colonel-General Alexander Zhuravlyov, responsible for Russia’s Western military district, was sacked and replaced with Lieutenant-General Roman Berdnikov.
Russian Defense Ministry maps presented as part of a regular briefing earlier in the day had appeared to show a similar story in Kherson. Although the ministry made no mention of lost ground, the designation of the location of the front line and the areas in Russian control was much smaller than on the previous day.
Ukraine’s president said “dozens of settlements have already been liberated from the Russian sham referendum.” Meanwhile, the US pledged $625 million in military aid, including HIMARS rocket launchers, reported Bloomberg news.
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told citizens that he had good news “both from the frontline and on the diplomatic front” in his nightly video address on Tuesday.
“First: the Ukrainian army is carrying out a pretty fast and powerful advance in the south of our country as part of the current defense operation,” Zelenskyy said. “Dozens of settlements have already been liberated from the Russian sham referendum this week alone.”
He said gains had been made in the Luhansk, Donetsk, Kherson and Kharkiv regions.
Dead bodies of Russians are litred in Kherson and Kharkiv regions. Russians have quickly escaped from pockets of Kherson and Kharkiv without carrying their own soldiers.
He went on to list several smaller settlements in Kherson specifically, saying that they had been “liberated from the occupier and stabilized.” He also described his list of locations as “far from complete.”
Ukraine has issued comparatively little information on its counteroffensive efforts, citing the need for secrecy about active operations. One strategically important town, Lyman, was recaptured at the weekend.
Zelenskyy concluded his address by saying that he had signed a presidential decree “designating null and void all decrees of the President of the Russian Federation and all acts adopted to implement these decrees for attempted annexation of our territory from 2014 until today.” Earlier on Tuesday, Russia ratified its illegal annexation of the Kherson, Luhansk, Donetsk and Zaporizhzhia regions.
US President Joe Biden told Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy that Washington would provide Kyiv with an additional $625 million in security aid, the White House said in a statement.
The package will include HIMARS rocket launchers, artillery systems and ammunition, and armored vehicles, according to the statement.
The addition of four HIMARS systems will bring the total number sent to Ukraine by Washington up to 20. The launchers have been a key tool for Ukrainian forces, giving Kyiv the ability to strike bridges that Moscow uses to supply its troops.
In his conversation with Zelenskyy, Biden “pledged to continue supporting Ukraine as it defends itself from Russian aggression for as long as it takes,” the White House said.
Biden also told Zelenskyy that Washington would “never recognize” Russia’s annexation of Ukrainian territory, the White House said in a statement.
The US State Department said the arms package would come from Pentagon stockpiles.
The new package would mark more than $16.8 billion in US security aid for Kyiv since the start of Russia’s invasion, and $17.5 billion since the start of Biden’s presidency.
Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said, “With numerically superior tank units in the direction of Zolota Balka and Oleksandrivka, the enemy managed to forge deep into our defenses.”
The breakthrough comes after Ukrainian forces took the key logistics hub of Lyman — Kyiv’s most significant battlefield gain in weeks.
Both moves set the stage for advances aimed at further cutting Russian supply lines.
Russian military bloggers have described a Ukrainian tank advance through dozens of kilometers of territory along the Dnieper’s western bank.
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