Ukraine counterattacks in South

UKRAINE,RUSSIA: The Ukrainian Army has begun a counterattack along an area in Southern Ukraine that had been relatively quiet in recent weeks, moving to keep the Russia’s military off balance even as it makes gains in Eastern Ukraine.

The attack in the Kherson region, announced Sunday evening, broke through a Russian line of defence, the military headquarters said in a statement, although it was not possible to independently confirm Ukraine’s assertion. Meanwhile, Russian Forces intensified their offensive in Ukraine’s Eastern Donbas region using artillery, rocket-launchers and aircraft to damage defenses around Donetsk, Ukraine’s general staff said on Friday.

Since turning away from Ukraine’s capital, Russia is using massed artillery and armoer to try to capture more territory in the Donbas, comprised of the Donetsk and Luhansk areas, which Moscow claims on behalf of separatists.

Meanwhile, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Sunday (May 29) denied speculation that President Vladimir Putin was ill, saying there were no signs pointing to any ailment. Putin’s health and private life are taboo subjects in Russia, and are almost never discussed in public.

Answering a question from France’s broadcaster TF1, Russia’s top diplomat said: “I don’t think that sane people can see in this person signs of some kind of illness or ailment.”

Lavrov said that Putin, who will turn 70 in October, appeared in public every day. “You can watch him on screens, read and listen to his speeches,” Lavrov said in comments released by the Russian Foreign Ministry. “I leave it to the conscience of those who spread such rumours.”

– INDIAN EXPRESS, THE STRAITS TIMES