KYIV, Ukraine (Dispatches) — Russian forces fired cruise missiles at the southern Ukrainian city of Odesa and shelled the eastern Donetsk region early Wednesday, killing at least six people and damaging dozens of homes, regional Ukrainian officials said.
Russian forces have recently stepped up aerial strikes in their nearly 16-month war, a Ukrainian military spokesman said. The country’s armed forces, meanwhile, have alleged limited gains in the early stages of a counteroffensive to take back the nearly one-fifth of Ukraine’s territory that is under Russian control.
Ukrainian forces can expect to make slow progress in what will be a “hugely difficult” fight as the counteroffensive gains traction, according to a Western official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss intelligence.
“Intense fighting is now ongoing in nearly all sectors of the front,” the official said “This is much more than probing. These are full-scale movements of armor and heavy equipment into the Russian security zone.”
The official described the Ukrainian attacks as methodical and said that, broadly speaking, “Russian forces have put up a good defense.”
Russia Concerned Over Calls to Move U.S. Nukes Closer to Border
On Tuesday, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said that her country is concerned about the recent calls to move U.S. nuclear bombs in Europe closer to the borders of Russia and Belarus,
“These calls ... cause concern against the backdrop of the destructive practice of Washington, which places its nuclear weapons outside its territory, including in countries that are non-nuclear under the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons,” Zakharova said in a statement published on the ministry’s website.
Accusing Washington of trying to mask its irresponsible behavior in the field of nuclear weapons by blaming Russia and Belarus, Zakharova said that Russia and Belarus were developing their cooperation in the military nuclear sphere in accordance with international law and their national interests.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Friday in a meeting with his Belarusian counterpart Alexander Lukashenko that Russia will deploy certain types of weapons in Belarus after July 8.