Russia repels a Ukrainian attack in Zaporizhia, and Europe is tightening its sanctions against Belarus

 Russian army announced - on Wednesday - that it had repulsed a major Ukrainian attack on the Zaporizhia axis (south). While British intelligence said that the Russian Black Sea Fleet had modified its stationing locations, the European Union decided to tighten its sanctions against Belarus.

Russian army said - in a statement - that it had repulsed a large-scale Ukrainian attack, in which 3 infantry battalions, supported by tanks, participated near Orikhiv in Zaporizhia province, in which Kyiv has launched a counterattack since the beginning of last June.

Earlier today, Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said that his forces repelled 4 attacks by Ukrainian troops in the Donetsk axis, and 4 others in the Luhansk axis.

Konashenkov confirmed the interception of 7 HIMARS missiles and two Storm Shadow missiles, and that they were able to shoot down 13 marches.

On the other hand, the Ukrainian General Staff announced - in a statement - that the latest Russian attacks included 65 raids, as well as the firing of 84 projectiles from rocket launchers, noting that there were civilian casualties and the destruction of infrastructure in several areas.

In another development, the Russian Ministry of Defense said that one of its ships had responded to a Ukrainian attack with two drone boats in the Black Sea. It also announced the resumption of navigation in the Gulf of Sevastopol after it was suspended earlier "to ensure the security of the region."

In this context, the Ukrainian Southern Operations Command said Russia may resort to provocation by striking civilian ships in the Black Sea and blaming Ukraine. It is also likely that Moscow will use Crimea to attack civilian ships.

On the other hand, British intelligence said that the Russian Black Sea Fleet had adjusted its positions since withdrawing from the Black Sea Grain Initiative in preparation for imposing a blockade on Ukraine. It added that Russia had deployed the "Sergei Kotov" ship in the southern Black Sea, and had patrolled the shipping lane between the Bosphorus and Odessa.

British intelligence indicated that this Russian ship is likely to form part of a group of missions to intercept commercial ships that Moscow believes are heading to Ukraine.

In turn, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg condemned - during the session of the NATO Council meeting with Ukraine in Brussels - Russia's withdrawal from the grain agreement and what he called "Moscow's use of hunger as a weapon and its dangerous actions in the Black Sea."

The meeting of the NATO Council with Ukraine discussed the issue of Moscow's withdrawal from the grain agreement, the Russian military escalation against Odesa, and its targeting of Ukrainian ports and infrastructure facilities.

In a related context, the member states of the European Union agreed - today - to tighten sanctions against Belarus over what they called Moscow's assistance in its war on Ukraine and "Minsk's crackdown on dissidents," according to officials.

Spain - which holds the rotating presidency of the Union - stated that the ambassadors of the member states supported at the meeting the new measures, including adding more Belarusian officials to the blacklist to ban visas and freeze assets.

Several European diplomats told Agence France-Presse that the new sanctions are mainly aimed at limiting dual-use equipment that can be used on the battlefield, in addition to stopping the arrival of aircraft spare parts to Belarus.

A European diplomat confirmed that the sanctions - agreed upon on Wednesday and will be formally adopted in the coming days - constitute a "first step", provided that further measures against Belarus will be discussed later this year.

Source: Agencies