“100 days of war”: Russia holds 20% of Ukraine – Zelensky

UKRIANE: Russia is currently occupying about 20% of Ukraine’s territory, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky told Luxembourg’s Parliament in a video address on Thursday. Ukraine marked 100 days since Russia’s invasion on Friday.

“We have to defend ourselves against almost the entire Russian Army. All combat-ready Russian military formations are involved in this aggression,” he said, adding that the front lines of battle stretched across more than 1,000 kilometres (620 miles).

Meanwhile, Ukrainian forces have taken back control of 20 small towns and villages in the south of the country, an official said on Thursday (June 2), as part of a counteroffensive intended to recapture lost territory and to tie up some Russian forces at a time when Moscow is intensely focused on an offensive in the east.

Military analysts say the counterattacks that Ukraine has mounted in recent days in the Kherson region are unlikely to prove decisive at this point. Transformative shifts in fortune for either side have become rare in the war, which has settled into a slow-moving slog since Russia invaded in February.

Ukrainian forces “continue to move forward” in the Kherson region and have “liberated” 20 populated localities, the Head of the Kherson Regional Military Association Hennadiy Lahuta, said on national television. – THE HINDUSTAN TIMES