Ukraine making ‘tangible progess’ with counteroffensive, says Blinken

The United States has hailed “tangible progress” in Ukraine’s counteroffensive and warned that it would be a “huge mistake” for North Korea to supply arms to the Kremlin, as Russia reported Ukrainian drone attacks on Moscow and several other cities.

US secretary of state Antony Blinken, on the second day of a visit to Ukraine, said the country “knew this was going to be a hard fight but especially over the last couple of weeks, we are seeing very tangible progress”.

“I think we are seeing real forward movement. But… this is tough, this is hard,” he told NBC news on Thursday, as Ukraine’s military said it was making slow but steady gains in the southeastern Zaporizhzhia region.

“The Russians had a lot of time in this case to prepare for the counteroffensive. They put tens of thousands of mines in places, other defensive fortifications,” Mr Blinken added. “The Ukrainians are working and going through it… they have a desire that will outmatch whatever the Russians put into this.”

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Russia has dismissed the counteroffensive as a failure and has condemned growing Ukrainian drone attacks on its territory. Air defence units shot down drones targeting Moscow, the southern city of Rostov and the southwestern Bryansk region on Thursday, officials said.

The Kremlin has declined to comment on reports from US officials that Russian president Vladimir Putin is preparing to host North Korean counterpart Kim Jong-un for talks on possible arms supplies from Pyongyang to Moscow.

“The idea that they would be supplying ammunition to that end, it would be a huge mistake. I also believe very strongly that for both Russia and North Korea, this will further isolate them,” said US vice-president Kamala Harris.

“It is very clear that Russia has ... already experienced a strategic failure,” she told CBS News, 18 months into an all-out invasion of Ukraine that has shredded Moscow’s economic and diplomatic ties with the West.

The Kremlin condemned a US decision to follow Britain in supplying Ukraine with armour-piercing depleted uranium munitions, which it said would have long-term health consequences for the region. The environmental impact of such arms is heavily disputed.

Ukraine said it shot down 25 of 33 explosive drones fired by Russia in the early hours of Thursday, most of which targeted southern ports and some of which hit the Danube river port of Izmail, damaging grain silos.

Romania belatedly acknowledged that parts of a Russian drone hit its territory near the Danube on Monday, but Nato secretary general Jens Stoltenberg joined Bucharest in playing down the incident.

“We don’t have any information indicating an intentional attack by Russia, and we are awaiting the outcome of the ongoing investigation,” Mr Stoltenberg told members of the European Parliament.