War in Ukraine: Moscow claims the destruction of a combat plane, a Russian strike on a gas site… an update on the situation

Des frappes de drones et de missiles russes sur des villes ukrainiennes, le 23 mars 2024. MAXPPP – Andriy Andriyenko

Tous les jours, Midi Libre fait le point sur la situation en Ukraine. Ce jeudi 4 juillet 2024, découvrez les dernières actualités autour de ce conflit.

The Ukrainian army says it has withdrawn from part of Chassiv Yar, in Donbass

Ukrainian forces have withdrawn from part of Chasiv Yar, a small town considered strategic by kyiv and Moscow in the Donetsk region, Ukraine's spokesperson said on Thursday ;army on national television. According to the spokesperson, Nazar Voloshin, the Ukrainian soldiers withdrew from a district in the east of the city which had been completely razed by Russian bombings and where it had become impossible for them to escape. ;shelter.

"The command has decided to withdraw to more protected and better prepared positions but even there, the enemy continues to carry out assaults", he said added. The Russian Defense Ministry said on Wednesday that its troops had taken control of a district of Chassiv Yar, after months of siege. The town is located on a hill about twenty kilometers west of Bakhmout, conquered last year by the Russian army and the mercenaries of the Wagner group at the cost of heavy losses.< /p>

Both Moscow and Kiev consider Chassiv Yar as a barrier blocking the advance of Russian troops towards Kramatorsk and Sloviansk, two important cities in the Donetsk region that Russia aims to conquer. The Russian army has been slowly nibbling away at the territory of this region of Donbass since the capture of Avdiivka in February, having taken advantage of the shortage of shells which handicapped the Ukrainian army for months due to lack of ammunition. ;rsquo;agreement in Congress on American aid and recruitment difficulties in Kiev.

Moscow's troops have nevertheless suffered heavy losses, particularly in armored vehicles, and most of their attacks are now carried out almost exclusively by infantry after massive bombardments of Ukrainian positions, notably in with the help of high-power guided bombs dropped by Russian planes far from the front line.

Russian strike on gas site leaves one dead in eastern Ukraine

A Russian strike on a gas facility killed one person and injured three others in the Poltava region of eastern Ukraine, the Energy Ministry said on Thursday. “On July 3, Russia attacked the Poltava region. Among the damaged infrastructure was the UkrGasVydobuvannya facility", the country's main gas producer, the ministry said on Telegram.

An electrician was killed and three other employees were injured, it said, adding that “operations are underway to deal with the consequences" of this attack.

Ukraine, facing a Russian invasion for more than two years, has seen many of its energy infrastructure destroyed in recent months by Russian bombings, which has led to electricity rationing on almost all of its sites. of its territory. His army responds by attacking Russian regions, including energy installations and fuel depots used for military operations on Ukrainian soil.

For several months, President Volodymyr Zelensky has been calling on his allies to urgently provide his country with new air defense systems to help it deal with Russian attacks. According to him, Russia has destroyed half of his country's energy production capacity. Its reconstitution requires significant investments.

Two dead in Russian attacks in the Zaporizhia region

Russian strikes have killed two people in the Zaporizhzhia region of Ukraine, regional governor Ivan Fedorov announced Thursday morning. “A man and a woman died as a result of enemy shelling” while another man was injured, the governor said on Telegram, who counted 391 Russian attacks on ten municipalities in the Zaporizhzhia region over the past 24 hours.

Moscow claims downing of fighter jet at airbase

Russia said on Thursday it had destroyed a Mig-29 fighter jet in a strike on a Ukrainian airbase in the Dnipro region in east-central Ukraine. According to the Russian Defense Ministry, the plane and other equipment and vehicles at the Dolgintsevo base were destroyed by an Iskander ballistic missile.

The ministry posted footage on its Telegram account purporting to illustrate the operation. On Tuesday, Russia said it had destroyed five Su-27 fighter jets at an air base near Myrgorod, some 150 km from the Russian border.

The airfield strikes come as Ukraine eagerly awaits the delivery of F-16 fighter jets. Protecting the bases where they will be stationed is a challenge for the Ukrainians and their Western allies.