Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy stated the battlefield state of affairs within the japanese Donbas area is “simply hell,” and regardless of U.S. provides of artillery, Kyiv’s forces haven’t been in a position to overcome Russian benefits in heavy weapons and manpower.
The imbalance is “very a lot felt in fight, particularly within the Donbas,” he stated on August 2 in his nightly handle. “It’s simply hell there. It may’t even be described in phrases.”
He additionally stated the phrase HIMARS — quick for high-mobility superior rocket system — has change into “nearly synonymous” with the phrase justice for Ukraine, “and the Ukrainian protection forces will do the whole lot to make sure that the occupiers expertise increasingly more painful losses each week thanks to those very efficient methods.”
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The superior and extra exact HIMARS have been equipped by the US, and on August 1 the White Home stated a brand new package deal of army help would come with extra ammunition for the methods, which it stated “are making a distinction on the battlefield.”
There have been experiences earlier on August 2 of air strikes in southern Ukraine, the place tens of hundreds of Russian troops reportedly had been making ready to advance on the cities of Kriviy Rih and Mykolayiv.
Presidential adviser Oleksiy Arestovych estimated that the Russian assault pressure numbered about 22,000 troopers and stated {that a} “sufficiently massive” Ukrainian contingent lay in wait.
Mykolayiv Mayor Oleksandr Sienkovych stated {that a} fireplace began in one of many districts of town as a consequence of explosions late on August 2.
“After highly effective explosions round 9 within the night, a fireplace began in one of many districts of town. There are additionally energy outages,” he stated on Telegram.
Highly effective explosions rocked a number of districts of Mykolayiv early on August 2, injuring one individual.
Some missiles fired later within the day had been thwarted by Ukrainian defenses. The press service of the Southern Air Command stated that at round 5:30 p.m. native time, 4 Russian X-type cruise missiles had been detected and destroyed within the sky over the Mykolayiv area.
“Cruise missile launches had been carried out from Russian Tu-95MS and Tu-160 strategic bomber missile carriers from the northern a part of the Caspian Sea,” the press service stated.
In east-central Ukraine, the top of the Dnipropetrovsk area’s army administration, Valentyn Reznichenko, reported that Russian troops fired rocket launchers and artillery at districts within the area.
In western Ukraine, Maksym Kozytskiy, head of the Lviv regional army administration, reported that there have been no victims in a missile strike by the Russian army within the area on August 2.
The strike concerned eight cruise missiles fired from the east, he stated. A few of them had been shot down by air-defense forces in different areas, and Kozytskiy thanked them for his or her work.
In whole, the Ukrainian army stated it shot down seven out of eight Russian cruise missiles fired within the path of the central, southern, and western areas of Ukraine on the night of August 2.
The air command beforehand stated {that a} Russian rocket hit an anti-aircraft missile system within the Lviv area close to the border with Poland. There was no fast phrase on injury or casualties.
In the southern Kherson area, Ukraine has recaptured 53 settlements within the principally Russian-occupied space because the begin of Moscow’s invasion, regional Governor Dmytro Butriy stated on August 2.
The claims couldn’t be independently verified.