What is happening in the village of Pobieda?
Yesterday, Russian troops claimed they had taken the village of Pobieda in Ukraine’s Donetsk region.
The report came as the Ukrainian military said its forces were repelling dozens of attacks in the area.
So what do we know so far?
The Russian defence ministry said that units of the southern group of forces “liberated the settlement of Pobieda” and “improved the situation along the frontline”.
However, the Ukrainian military said its forces were repelling dozens of attacks in the area and made no mention of losing control of the area.
Ukraine’s general staff said its troops “continue to contain the enemy” around Pobieda and a nearby village, Novomykhailivka.
Neither side’s claims have been independently verified.
Pobieda is a village south of Maryinka, a town that has been all but levelled by months of clashes.
Lloyd Austin urges Congress to ‘act quickly’ to pass Ukraine aid package
US defence secretary Lloyd Austin has urged Congress to “act quickly” to pass Ukraine’s aid package, adding that the war-torn country “faces a tough fight ahead”.
In a statement today, Mr Austin said two years after Russia launched its war, Ukraine’s “defiance in the face of Putin’s aggression and atrocities has inspired free people everywhere”.
He said the scale of “Putin’s blunder is especially stark today”.
“The Kremlin’s forces failed to win the battle of Kyiv, failed to topple Ukraine’s democratically elected government, and failed to crush the will of the Ukrainian people,” he said.
“Ukraine has retaken more than half of the sovereign territory that was grabbed by the Kremlin’s forces in 2022.
“And as a result of Putin’s unprovoked war, Russia has suffered hundreds of thousands of casualties, lost significant equipment, and severely set back its military modernisation programme.”
But he added “Ukraine faces a tough fight ahead”.
“I urge members of Congress to act quickly to pass the national security supplemental to ensure that Ukrainian troops have what they need to defend their country and their citizens from Russia’s cruelty – and to send a strong message of America’s continued commitment to Ukraine’s freedom,” he continued.
The US official said the White House would continue to be “candid with the American people about the stakes in Ukraine” as the “Kremlin’s war poses a direct threat to security in Europe and beyond”.
He added: “The world will only become more dangerous if Putin and his fellow autocrats conclude that they can wipe democracies off the map and force free people to live in fear.”
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