Zelensky ruled out Moscow's control of the Black Sea and Russia's talk of starting the second phase of the Ukrainian counterattack

 Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that Russia will not control the Black Sea, and it will have to fear approaching the shores of Crimea due to the movements of the Ukrainian navy.

As for the Russian military and civil administration in Zaporizhia, in the south of the country, it said that the Ukrainian army is preparing to start the second phase of the counterattack and is trying to conduct reconnaissance operations and push more reinforcements to the province.

Zelensky added - in a video message from Odesa, where he met the commander of the Ukrainian naval forces - "Certainly, the enemy will not dictate its terms in the Black Sea, and the occupiers will be afraid to approach Crimea, from the Ukrainian Crimea, and our shores on the Sea of Azov."

The coasts of the Sea of Azov and Crimea are under the control of Russian forces.

On the other hand, German Chancellor Olaf Schultz confirmed that his country will not deliver long-range weapons to Ukraine, which Kyiv could use to launch strikes on Russian territory.

The advisor in the Ukrainian presidential office, Mykhailo Podolyak, called on the world to warn Russia of any terrorist attack on the territory of the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant, noting that this would be tantamount to the use of tactical nuclear weapons.

These statements by Ukrainian officials come after the Ukrainian Air Force announced that the capital, Kyiv, was subjected to Russian attacks for the first time in about two weeks and said that its air defenses in the city managed to destroy all the missiles, but one person was injured and houses were damaged due to falling debris, and it also shot down 8 drones and 3 planes. cruise missiles.

The attack on Kyiv came a day after Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez visited the city, where he pledged millions in new aid to Ukraine and pledged that Europe would continue to support Ukraine as long as necessary.

In the rest of the field developments, the Ukrainian forces announced their progress on the Bakhmut front, while the Russian army said that it had thwarted 11 Ukrainian attacks in Donetsk, in the south of the country.

The Russian "Redovka" website also announced that fierce battles are taking place between Russian and Ukrainian forces in the Arikhov axis, south of Zaporizhia.

The site added that the Ukrainian forces were able to advance slightly towards the town of Priotnoye and near the town of Novodontskoye, west of Uglidar in Donetsk.

The pro-Russian forces also announced their control of a French IMX tank in the Oglidar axis during battles with the Ukrainian forces.

A spokesman for the Ukrainian forces in the Tavria operations region, southeastern Ukraine, stated that the Russian forces are focusing their efforts on preventing the advance of the Ukrainian offensive units towards the Melitopol region, as well as launching counterattacks and maintaining their ranks towards Predyansk, south of Zaporizhia.

And Russian media reported that a powerful explosion occurred near a military airport in the Primorsk-Akhtarsk region of the Krasnodar Territory, southwestern Russia.

Pictures spread on social media showed plumes of smoke and a large crater in the area.

Benjamin Kondratyev, governor of the Krasnodar region, said that the authorities are working to determine the circumstances of the accident, stressing that there was no material or human damage.

Source: Agencies