its president Ukrainian, Vladimir Zelenskygreeted tonight “the news we’ve been waiting for,” as he said, from the soldiers fighting in and around the devastated city. Bahamutbut without any other explanation.

“I am grateful to every soldier, to all our defenders, men and women, who brought us the long-awaited news today. Great job, soldiers of the Bahamut sector!” Zelensky announced this in his evening video message.

“Hysterical reaction” of Russia.

At the same time, the Ukrainian president ridiculed Russia’s “hysterical reaction” to every action of Ukrainian forces. “We see how hysterically Russia reacts to each of our advances in this area, to each position that we take. The enemy knows that Ukraine will win,” he added.

Zelensky singled out “two parts” that “resolutely and effectively defended our positions, destroyed the occupiers and, most importantly, moved forward.”

Russia claims to have repelled a major attack on its forces in eastern Ukraine. Ukrainian officials, on the other hand, denied launching a major Kyiv counter-offensive that had been expected for months, although they said they had made some headway on the front lines.

^{Source: APE-MEB, Reuters, AFP.}