President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyi met with the heads of the army and special services on Friday to get acquainted with the situation at the front, as well as to discuss security issues at the country’s nuclear facilities and on the northern border with Russia, Ukrainian Pravda reports. and Unian, quoted by Agerpres.

In a message published on Telegram, Zelenskyi noted that during the meeting, he was informed about the latest events in various theaters of operations by Army Commander-in-Chief General Valery Zaluzhnyi and the commanders responsible for the two directions of the front where Ukraine is currently conducting a counteroffensive – Oleksandr Syrskyi and Oleksandr Tyrnavskyi.

According to the latest military bulletin, Ukraine continues its offensive north and south of Bakhmut, on the eastern front, in the southwest of the Donetsk region and west of Zaporizhzhia, where Kyiv troops are trying to repel the occupiers further south, in the direction of the occupied cities of Berdyansk and Melitopol.

Minister of Strategic Industries Oleksandr Kamishin also took part in Zelenskyi’s meeting with national security, with whom he discussed the issue of increasing the production of weapons, especially drones.

Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov briefed other participants on new military aid packages received by Kyiv from its allies at this week’s NATO summit in Vilnius, Lithuania.

There is no threat of invasion from Belarus

Finally, the head of Ukraine’s military intelligence, Kyrylo Budanov, released the security situation on the border with Belarus after fears of further attacks were raised following reports that a group of Russian Wagner mercenaries were moving into Belarus after a failed uprising in Russia.

Zelensky again insisted that, according to the information available in Ukraine, “there is no threat of invasion from Belarus.”

The Russians continue to attack Shahed kamikaze drones.

Over the past day, the Ukrainian air defense intercepted 16 of the 17 Iranian-made Shahed kamikaze unmanned aerial vehicles launched by Russia over the territory of Ukraine, the Ukrainian Air Force said in a statement.

“From the afternoon of July 13 to 04:00 a.m. on July 14, the Russians attacked Ukraine with 17 Iranian-made Shahed-136/131 attack drones (launched) from the southeastern direction,” the press release states. 16 of these drones were shot down by the Ukrainian Air Force in several areas of southern and eastern Ukraine.

Six Shahed drones were shot down in the Kryvorizka (Kryvyi Rih, southeast) region, the homeland of President Volodymyr Zelenskyi, but another drone, which failed to be intercepted, hit the administrative building of a utility company, injuring a 56-year-old man. .

Also on Thursday evening, Russia launched a reconnaissance drone into Ukrainian airspace, which was also shot down by Ukrainian forces. On Thursday, Ukraine destroyed six more Russian drones launched to gather information.

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