Current:Home > ScamsUkraine counteroffensive makes "notable" progress near Zaporizhzhia, but it's a grinding stalemate elsewhere-LoTradeCoin
Ukraine counteroffensive makes "notable" progress near Zaporizhzhia, but it's a grinding stalemate elsewhere
View Date:2024-12-24 00:30:48
Kyiv — Ukraine's counteroffensive is grinding on. Video from Ukraine's Azov battalion showed an early morning assault on Russia's defensive lines near the town of Bakhmut. The intense, running gun battles there come months after Moscow-backed mercenaries seized control of the eastern city in a hugely symbolic victory.
They took Bakhmut after some of the war's most brutal fighting, and the ongoing battle around the city, as along much of the hundreds-of-miles-long front line, is bloody and neither side is advancing significantly.
But as Ukraine's counteroffensive grinds to a stalemate on multiple fronts, the military is starting to make important gains further the south. According to U.S. officials, there was "notable" progress near the southern city of Zaporizhzhia over the weekend.
Kyiv's aim is to break through Russia's defenses and march directly south, all the way to the coast on the Sea of Azov. If they manage it, Ukraine would cut off Russia's land access route to the long-occupied Crimean Peninsula. But Moscow has established long barriers across the terrain, full of minefields, tank traps, miles of trenches and other defenses, and that has been slowing Ukraine's advance.
The Kremlin's drone warfare campaign also isn't slowing down. Early Monday, Moscow launched a 3-and-a-half-hour assault on the Danube River port of Izmail, targeting vital Ukrainian infrastructure. Ukraine's military said at least 17 of the Russian drones were taken down by air defense systems, but some hit their targets and damaged buildings.
Izmail has become an important transit route for Ukraine's vast grain exports following Russian President Vladimir Putin's decision in July to withdraw from a U.N. and Turkey-brokered export deal that saw the supplies pass safely through the Black Sea for about a year.
Putin met Monday with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan as part of efforts to revive the agreement, which saw some 32 million of tons of grain reach global markets through Ukraine's sea ports and helped to ease a global food crisis, according to the U.N.
But it didn't appear that any breakthrough was made, with Putin reiterating complaints about the accord, including accusing Western nations of refusing to ease sanctions on Russian banking and insurance services that Moscow says have severely impacted Russia's own exports and deliveries of agricultural equipment and spare parts.
The restrictions, imposed after Moscow launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, have also had a major impact on the Russian economy.
Far from the diplomacy — and deep underground — many children were back in school this week in the eastern city of Kharkiv. But life is far from normal in Ukraine's second largest city. Dozens of improvised classrooms for around 1,000 students have been set up in a local subway station.
"We are trying to do everything possible for our children not to feel this war," said the school's director, Ludmyla Usichenko. "We are trying to create a safe environment for them."
As Ukraine's brutal war drags into its 18th month, even educating children means making concessions.
- In:
- War
- Bakhmut
- Ukraine
- Russia
- Vladimir Putin
- Volodymyr Zelenskyy
Imtiaz Tyab is a CBS News correspondent based in London.
TwitterveryGood! (645)
Related
- Artem Chigvintsev Returns to Dancing With the Stars Ballroom Amid Nikki Garcia Divorce
- Tuesday’s primaries include presidential races and the prosecutor in Trump’s Georgia election case
- Jennifer Lopez Briefly Brings Up Ben Affleck Amid Split Rumors
- Target latest retailer to start cutting prices for summer, with reductions on 5,000 items
- AP Top 25: Oregon remains No. 1 as Big Ten grabs 4 of top 5 spots; Georgia, Miami out of top 10
- They couldn't move their hands for years. A new device offers the promise of mobility.
- Former New Hampshire youth center leader defends tenure after damning trial testimony
- Who will win NBA Eastern and Western conference finals? Schedule, time, TV and predictions
- Investigation into Chinese hacking reveals ‘broad and significant’ spying effort, FBI says
- 14-year-old among four people killed in multi-vehicle crash on I-75 in Georgia, police say
Ranking
- Why California takes weeks to count votes, while states like Florida are faster
- Father says the 10-year-old child swept into a storm drain in Tennessee after severe storms has died
- Who will win NBA Eastern and Western conference finals? Schedule, time, TV and predictions
- Trump-backed legislator, county sheriff face off for McCarthy’s vacant US House seat in California
- Five best fits for Alex Bregman: Will Astros homegrown star leave as free agent?
- Arizona grad student accused of killing professor in 2022 had planned the crime, prosecutor says
- Police search home of Rex Heuermann, accused in Gilgo Beach slayings, for second time
- Severe turbulence during Singapore Airlines flight leaves several people badly injured. One man died
Recommendation
-
South Carolina does not set a date for the next execution after requests for a holiday pause
-
Kentucky congressman expects no voter fallout for his role in attempt to oust House speaker
-
NHL playoffs bracket 2024: What are the conference finals series in Stanley Cup playoffs?
-
Jamie Lynn Spears' Daughter Ivey Graduates Kindergarten in Adorable Photo With Big Sis Maddie
-
Monument erected in Tulsa for victims of 1921 Race Massacre
-
Elvis' Graceland faces foreclosure auction; granddaughter Riley Keough sues to block sale
-
Trump or Biden? Either way, US seems poised to preserve heavy tariffs on imports
-
This pageant queen was abandoned as a baby. Now, she’s reunited with her birth mother.