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The Deputy Chairman of the Security Council of Russia, Dmitry Medvedev, today accused Japan that by helping Kiev, it is involved in a military conflict with Russia. In a scathing speech in a Russian city very close to Japan, Mr. Medvedev also announced that the Russian Armed Forces have been increased by hundreds of thousands of new members. Meanwhile, today Kiev accused Moscow of continuing to bombard the ports in the city of Odesa, vital for Ukraine's grain shipments, after the breakdown of the UN-brokered agreement that allowed Ukraine to export grain through the Black Sea.
Russian drones struck port infrastructure on the Danube River in southern parts of the Odesa region today, injuring at least two people, Ukrainian officials said.
They did not give details of what was specifically hit, but some Ukrainian media reported explosions at the port of Reni, which, along with Izmail, are considered Ukraine's two main ports on the Danube. Military authorities said a fire that broke out as a result of the attack was quickly extinguished.
Ukraine shot down 22 of 25 Iranian-made Shahed drones that Russia launched towards the southern region of Odesa on Sunday morning, the Ukrainian Air Force wrote on the Telegram app.
"We have protected Odesa from destruction. Because the Russian regime can bring nothing but degradation and we will return security to Odesa. Odesa has always been a place where you feel happy," said the Ukrainian President during his daily address as he addressed the residents of the city of Odesa on City Day.
A day earlier, Mr Zelenskiy said the Ukrainian military was making progress in its counteroffensive against Russian forces, rejecting claims by Western officials that Ukraine was gaining ground too slowly.
Thanks to the counteroffensive, now almost into its third month, Kiev has managed to recapture more than a dozen villages, but not major centers, while progress has been hampered by extensive minefields and defensive lines of Russian forces.
This week, US officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity, expressed frustration with the slow progress of the operation and even blamed it on Ukrainian strategy. The comments were published in Western articles that angered Kiev.
"Ukrainian forces are moving forward. Despite developments and whatever anyone says, we are progressing, and that is the most important thing. We are on the move," Mr. Zelensky wrote on the Telegram messaging app.
Kiev says it has deliberately advanced slowly to minimize losses, and that progress has been greatly complicated by a lack of modern air power. Russia, on the other hand, has already described the Ukrainian counteroffensive as a failure.
Today, the Vice President of the Russian Security Council, Dmitry Medvedev, announced that the Russian Air Force has increased during this year with a large number of members.
"According to the Ministry of Defense, since January 1 of this year, about 280,000 people have been accepted into the ranks of the Russian Armed Forces. Some of them were reservists, some of them are volunteers and other categories," says Mr. Medvedev.
Mr. Medvedev made the statements while visiting the city of Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, which lies in the easternmost part of Russia, very close to Japan. During the speech, Mr. Medvedev accused Japan of "engaging in military conflict" because of the ever-increasing aid it is providing to Ukraine, as he said. /VOA
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