US sees ‘notable success’ in Ukraine’s army drive

The US government says that Ukraine’s forces have made significant progress in their attack against strong Russian defenses in the southern area.

John Kirby, the spokesperson for White House security, said that progress was made in the last three days to the south of Zaporizhzhia.

Dmytro Kuleba, the Foreign Minister of Ukraine, said to CNN that the forces in Kyiv were moving forward, but the battle is challenging.

Russia says that they have captured important high spots close to the city of Kupiansk in the northeastern part of Ukraine.

None of the statements have been checked by other sources to confirm if they are true or not.

Mr Kirby mentioned that Kyiv has acknowledged that the effort to divide the Russian land connection to Crimea in the southern region is progressing slower than expected.

“He said that they have had some success in overcoming the second line of Russian defenses. ”

Earlier this week, Ukraine’s armed forces said they had taken control of the village of Robotyne in the Zaporizhzhia region.

In the north-east, Russia has gathered a large number of troops to take back land that Ukraine had previously taken control of to the east of Kharkiv.

In the south, it’s believed that Russia has constructed a complex network of ditches and underground passages. They are protected by fields of explosives, along with spots for big guns and barriers made of special concrete to stop tanks.

Kyiv started fighting back after getting better weapons from their friends in the West and getting ready with attack teams.

But things have been moving slowly, and Kyiv keeps asking Nato countries to give them tanks, tools to remove mines, and airplanes for war – especially F-16 fighter jets made in the US.

On Thursday, Mr. Kuleba expressed frustration with people who complained about how fast Ukraine was responding in battle.

“I suggest that all critics stop talking, visit Ukraine, and attempt to free even just a small area on their own,” he stated during a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Spain.

Russian President Vladimir Putin started a big war in Ukraine in February 2022. In 2014, Russian forces took control of the Crimea peninsula and a large part of Ukraine’s Donbas region.

President Putin said to students on Friday, at the beginning of the school year, that Russia’s victory in World War Two showed that their country was unbeatable.

“I learned the reasons why we were successful in the Great Patriotic War,” he said during a lecture meant to encourage patriotism in schools. It’s not possible to beat this country with this mindset. We were unbeatable. And right now, we are identical.

The Russian government introduced something called “important conversations” in schools after they started a big invasion.

Russia’s military said on Friday that they have started using a new powerful nuclear missile system called Sarmat.

The missiles can reach far places and each one has many warheads. We don’t know for sure if they have been deployed because it hasn’t been confirmed by a separate source.
This map shows the progress made by Ukraine in the southern region and also the positions of the villages called Robotyne and Verbove.