Russian troops have recently "deployed" and captured territory in strongholds previously belonging to Ukrainian forces in the Kharkiv region, the head of the military-political command of the region, Vitaly Ganchev, told Rossiya 24 TV channel.
"Our fighters have advanced very well and have gained a foothold in strongholds that were previously behind the Ukrainian Armed Forces. The enemy is bringing in more and more new reserves and is putting up fierce resistance. They already have very heavy losses," he said.
According to Ganchev, the Russian army took positions "strategically convenient for further advances".
As Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said the day before, the armed forces also managed to expand the control zone near Sinkovka and Petropavlovka in the Kupiansk region of Kharkiv Oblast.
According to the department's daily report, Ukrainian Armed Forces casualties during artillery shelling in the areas of the Berestovoye and Novoselovskoye settlements amounted to up to 50 dead and wounded and two ammunition supply points were destroyed.
The US and Britain helped in the Sevastopol attack
The Sevastopol attack was carried out with the help of experts from the United States and Great Britain, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said at a briefing.
"On September 22, Sevastopol was again attacked and there is not the slightest doubt that the attack was pre-planned using Western intelligence means, NATO satellite equipment, reconnaissance aircraft and was carried out at the instigation of and in close coordination with the Americans and British intelligence services," she said.
The diplomat stressed that the obvious aim of this attack and other similar terrorist acts is to distract attention from the failed counter-attack efforts of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and to intimidate people, to spread panic in Russian society and ultimately to destabilize the internal political situation in the country.
Ukrainian troops launched a missile attack on Sevastopol on the afternoon of 22 September and the Russian air defence shot down five missiles. According to the Russian news agency RIA Novosti, the historic building of the Black Sea Fleet headquarters was damaged, one soldier disappeared and windows in ten houses were broken. Part of the fired rocket fell in the city centre, was removed with precautions and destroyed at the test site.
According to British media, Storm Shadow missiles donated by the kingdom were used for the attack. London declined to comment on these reports.
