WESTERN PERSPECTIVE
Ukraine reports 'heavy combat' after Putin says offensive has begun
Moscow and Kyiv both reported heavy fighting in Ukraine on Friday, with bloggers describing the first sightings of German and U.S. armour, signalling that Ukraine's long-anticipated counterattack was under way.
With virtually no independent reporting from the front lines and Kyiv saying little, it was impossible to assess whether Ukraine was penetrating Russian defences in its bid to drive out occupying forces.
"We can state for sure that this offensive has begun," Russian President Vladimir Putin said in Sochi. "Ukrainian troops did not achieve their goals in any sector."
Ukraine's President Voldymyr Zelenskiy said he had discussed tactics and "achievements" with military leaders but gave little away.
"For our soldiers, for all those who at this time are engaged in particularly heavy combat. We see your heroism, and we are grateful for every moment of your lives," he said in his nightly video address. "Ukraine is as free as you are strong."
Ukrainian military analyst Oleksander Musiyenko, interviewed on Ukrainian NV Radio, said Ukraine was making gains but dismissed Russian reports of a major counter-offensive in south-central Zaporizhzhia region.
"This is simply not true. It is not the main phase of the counter-offensive. It is merely a phase and not the large drive from which we can expect a rapid breakthrough and hundreds of kilometres of liberated territory," Musiyenko said.
The counteroffensive is ultimately expected to involve thousands of Ukrainian troops trained and equipped by the West. The United States announced an extra $2.1 billion in security assistance on Friday, including air defence and ammunition.
Russia, which has had months to prepare its defensive lines, says it has repelled attacks since the start of the week. Kyiv has said its main effort has yet to begin.
Moscow and pro-war Russian bloggers reported intense battles on the Zaporizhzhia front near the city of Orikhiv, around the mid-point of the "land bridge" linking Russia to the Crimea peninsula, seen as one of Ukraine's likeliest targets.
Ben Barry, senior fellow for land warfare at the International Institute for Strategic Studies, said reports from the Russian bloggers of German-made Leopard tanks and U.S. Bradley armoured vehicles near Tokmak south of Orikhiv, if confirmed, would provide the first evidence that Ukraine's new brigades of Western-armed troops had joined the battle.
In all, Kyiv has 12 brigades totalling 50,000-60,000 troops ready to unleash in the counteroffensive. Nine of the brigades have been armed and trained by the West.
"They've got a choice of how many they commit initially and how many they keep in reserve in case the battlefield dynamics change," Barry said, adding that Ukraine's initial priority would be trying to keep the Russians off balance and gain tactical surprise through deception and camouflage.
The Russian defence ministry said its troops had repelled two Ukrainian assaults south of Orikhiv and four near Velyka Novosilka further east, where it said Ukraine's attack force included two battalions of troops supported by tanks. Several battalions of up to 1,000 troops comprise a brigade.
The southern front is where Ukrainian forces are widely expected to attempt their main push, towards the coast. Deputy Defence Minister Hanna Maliar said only that battles were continuing for Velyka Novosilka and Russian troops were mounting "active defence" at Orikhiv.
In the east, Ukraine has reported advances around Bakhmut, which Russian forces captured last month after nearly a year of the deadliest ground combat in Europe since World War Two. Ukraine generally bars journalists from reaching its side of front lines during offensive operations.
Reuters could not independently verify the accounts by either side.
FLOOD DISASTER OVERSHADOWS FIGHTING
The initial days of the counteroffensive have been overshadowed this week by a huge humanitarian disaster after the destruction of the Kakhovka dam holding back the waters of the Dnipro River that bisects Ukraine.
Thousands of people have been forced to evacuate homes flooded in the war zone, vast nature preserves have been wiped out and the destruction to irrigation systems is likely to cripple agriculture across much of southern Ukraine for decades. Kyiv said at least four people had died and 13 were missing.
Ukraine's security service released a recording on Friday of what it described as an intercepted phone call in which a Russian soldier confides to another man that a Russian sabotage group had blown the dam up. Moscow says Ukraine sabotaged it.
Western countries say they are still gathering evidence but argue that Ukraine would have no reason to inflict such a devastating disaster on itself, especially right as its forces were shifting onto the attack.
In Hola Prystan on the Russian-occupied side of the river, rescuers evacuatedresidents in rubber dinghies. Villagers carried pets or small children to safety.
"Our house was carried away by a torrent of water," said a woman who gave her name as Oksana, being evacuated in a boat with her teenage daughter and their two dogs.
Some relatives of people in Russian-controlled flooded areas said their loved ones were still stuck on roofs with dwindling food supplies. The United Nations has no access to those areas, its Humanitarian Coordinator in Ukraine Denise Brown said, adding that some 17,000 people were affected in Ukrainian-controlled areas, with numbers changing "by the minute".
The river divides the two sides, which accuse each other of shelling across it, interfering with rescue efforts. The Kremlin said Ukrainian shelling had killed people including a pregnant woman. It provided no evidence.
Ukraine's general staff said on Friday evening there had been 27 armed engagements in the east over the past 24 hours.
It also reported 58 Russian air strikes and 31 incidents of Russian shelling. "Unfortunately, there are civilian deaths and injuries and damage to private homes, a hospital and other infrastructure," it said, without elaborating.
Ukraine launched 16 air strikes it said, giving no indication of whether the front line had moved.
Russian officials said Ukraine had struck the Russian city of Voronezh with a drone, wounding three people, and reported other drone attacks in Belgorod and Kursk. Kyiv withholds comment on reports of attacks inside Russia.
** Russia has received hundreds of Iranian drones to attack Ukraine, says White House
The White House said on Friday that Russia appeared to be deepening its defense cooperation with Iran and had received hundreds of one-way attack drones that it is using to strike Ukraine.
Citing newly declassified information, the White House said the drones, or Uncrewed Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), were built in Iran, shipped across the Caspian Sea and then used by Russian forces against Ukraine.
"Russia has been using Iranian UAVs in recent weeks to strike Kyiv and terrorize the Ukrainian population, and the Russia-Iran military partnership appears to be deepening," White House spokesman John Kirby said in a statement.
"We are also concerned that Russia is working with Iran to produce Iranian UAVs from inside Russia."
Kirby said the U.S. had information that Russia was receiving materials from Iran required to build a drone manufacturing plant that could be fully operational early next year.
"We are releasing satellite imagery of the planned location of this UAV manufacturing plant in Russia’s Alabuga Special Economic Zone," he said.
The U.S. has previously sanctioned Iranian executives at a defense manufacturer over drone supplies to Russia. Iran has acknowledged sending drones to Russia but said they were sent before Russia's February invasion. Moscow has denied its forces used Iranian drones in Ukraine. A White House official said Iran had transferred several hundred drones to Russia since August.
Support between Iran and Russia was flowing both ways, Kirby said, with Iran seeking billions of dollars worth of military equipment from Russia including helicopters and radars.
"Russia has been offering Iran unprecedented defense cooperation, including on missiles, electronics, and air defense," he said.
"This is a full-scale defense partnership that is harmful to Ukraine, to Iran’s neighbors, and to the international community. We are continuing to use all the tools at our disposal to expose and disrupt these activities including by sharing this with the public – and we are prepared to do more."
Kirby said the transfers of drones constituted a violation of United Nations rules and the United States would seek to hold the two countries accountable.
Britain, France, Germany, the U.S. and Ukraine say the supply of Iranian-made drones to Russia violates a 2015 U.N. Security Council resolution enshrining the Iran nuclear deal.
Under the 2015 U.N. resolution, a conventional arms embargo on Iran was in place until October 2020.
Ukraine and Western powers argue that the resolution includes restrictions on missiles and related technologies until October 2023 and can encompass the export and purchase of advanced military systems such as drones.
The Iranian and Russian missions to the United Nations did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the U.S. accusations.
"We will continue to impose sanctions on the actors involved in the transfer of Iranian military equipment to Russia for use in Ukraine," Kirby said.
He said a new U.S. advisory issued on Friday aimed "to help businesses and other governments better understand the risks posed by Iran’s UAV program and the illicit practices Iran uses to procure components for it."
The advisory highlighted key items sought by Iran for its development of drones, including electronics such as processors and controllers.
RUSSIAN PERSPECTIVE
Ukrainian troops had no success due to courage of Russian servicemen — Putin
Russian President Vladimir Putin said Ukrainian forces achieved no success with their operations at the frontline due to the courage of Russian servicemen, the quality of Russian weapons and proper command organization.
"The enemy had no success in any area. It is all due to the courage and heroism of our soldiers, the proper organization and management of troops and the great efficiency of Russian weapons, especially advanced weapons," Putin told reporters.
He said the fighting has been very intense in the past two days.
Russian releases VIDEO of Ukrainian vehicles destroyed in combat
Russian Ministry of Defense published a video on Friday showing the destruction of armored vehicles supplied to Ukraine by the US and its allies, overlaid by a snippet from the iconic radio broadcast announcing the 1941 invasion by Nazi Germany.
The 45-second video opens with a group of armored cars getting caught by artillery in an open field, somewhere on the Zaporozhye front. This is followed by drone footage of exploding armored cars, personnel carriers and tanks. A still image shows a group of US-supplied Bradley infantry vehicles and a knocked-out Leopard tank. Another Leopard is then seen burning on a dirt road.
While the footage is accompanied by electronic music, the video opens with a blast from the past. “Our cause is just. The enemy will be defeated,” says Yuri Levitan (1914-1983), known as the voice of Soviet radio, quoting from the June 22, 1941 broadcast announcing that Nazi Germany and its allies had invaded the USSR.
The Russian Defense Ministry frequently uses another quote from Levitan’s broadcast, “Victory will be ours!” to sign its announcements.
Reuters/RT/Tass