The Russian Ministry of Defense said on Monday its military had attacked multiple Ukrainian targets, while the Ukrainian side reported the same day dozens of combat clashes on the frontlines.
In a daily update on its special military operation, the ministry said Russian army struck Ukrainian military targets including electronic warfare stations and counter-battery radars. The air defense systems shot down several Ukrainian missiles and aerial bombs as well as dozens of drones.
Russian forces also attacked Ukrainian artillery pieces, armored vehicles and other targets in the Kursk Region which the Ukraine troops have pushed into since early August.
In the past 24 hours, the Ukrainian Armed Forces' General Staff recorded nearly 100 combat clashes with Russian troops in multiple directions including Kharkiv and Pokrovsk as of 16:00 Monday.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has kicked off a key visit to the United States in which he is expected to set out a "victory plan" to his U.S. counterpart Joe Biden and leaders of other allies.
He emphasized in a speech on Monday that the next few months would be crucial for the battlefield outcome. "We don't have much time. The next few months will be decisive. We need to be faster," Zelensky was quoted as saying by state news agency Ukrinform.
According to London-based The Times, Zelensky's plan consists of four key points: first, a request for security guarantees from Western countries, akin to the mutual defense pact between NATO members; second, to continue Ukraine's incursion into Russia's Kursk region as a territorial bargaining chip; third, a request for ‘specific’ advanced weapons; and fourth, international financial assistance for its war-scarred economy.
In addition, the plan could include requests to strengthen Ukraine's arsenal and allow the Ukrainian army to strike targets deeper inside Russia with Western weapons, according to the Washington Post.
Dmitry Peskov, press secretary of Russian President Putin, told reporters on Monday that the country is very reserved about reports on Zelensky's plan as "there has been a great deal of conflicting, contradictory and unreliable information." Kremlin will study Zelensky's plan carefully only when there is reliable information from official sources, Peskov stressed. "We believe that it is impossible to do any analysis based on media reports," said the spokesman.
Russia strikes Ukrainian military targets as Ukraine reports fierce fighting on frontlines
