Russia stops offensive in Zaporizhzhia, EU aid slows down, Slovakia refuses military support because of this

Moscow's artillery reportedly repelled two attacks by Ukrainian units on Russian positions in the Orekhovo direction of the Zaporizhzhia region on October 25.

Russian forces thwarted two Ukrainian attempts to attack Zaporizhzhia on October 25. (Source: Washington Post)

According to the source, a Ukrainian paratrooper division was attacked by Russian artillery and suffered losses while approaching Russian positions.

In another attempt, Ukrainian mechanized infantry also tried to advance in this direction. Despite being supported by two infantry fighting vehicles and a tank, the Ukrainian assault team was hit by Russian artillery and suffered heavy losses.

On October 26, Sergey Zybinsky, spokesman for the Western Combat Group, confirmed that the group attacked Ukrainian military deployment points near Timovka in the Kharkov region.

“During the fighting in Kupyansk, units of the Western battle group, with the support of air and artillery, repelled 15 attacks by Ukrainian mechanized brigades near Sinkovka, Timovka and Nadiya,” Mr. Zybinsky said.

On the same day, Bloomberg news agency (USA) quoted informed sources as saying that the European Union (EU) is behind schedule in providing artillery shells to Ukraine.

The EU was scheduled to deliver one million artillery shells to Ukraine by March 2023. However, so far, the bloc has only delivered about 30% of the above quantity. The source also revealed that a number of EU member states have requested an extension of the ammunition supply period to Kiev.

Earlier, EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell said the bloc had donated 300,000 155mm artillery shells and 2,600 missiles to Ukraine since the beginning of this year to counter Russian forces.

In February, Mr Borrell pledged that Brussels would provide Kiev with 1 million artillery shells. Meanwhile, 2 billion euros have been allocated from the European Peace Fund for these purposes.

In another development on October 26, Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico announced that he would not provide military support to Ukraine.

During a meeting with the country's lawmakers, Prime Minister Fico stressed: "We support humanitarian and civil assistance to Ukraine - this will be the official policy of my cabinet. We will not provide Ukraine with any weapons."

At the same time, this official said that the EU needs to change its role from an arms supplier to Ukraine to a peacemaker.

On October 25, Slovak President Zuzana Caputova officially appointed Mr. Robert Fico as the new prime minister after Mr. Fico's Social Democratic Orientation Party (Smer-SD) won the general election on September 30 and formed a coalition with two other parties.

During the election campaign, the politician's Smer-SD party took a stance against military aid to Ukraine.

Source: https://baoquocte.vn/tinh-hinh-ukraine-nga-chan-dung-no-luc-tien-cong-o-zaporizhzhia-vien-tro-eu-cham-tien-do-slovakia-quyet-khong-ho-tro-quan-su-vi-dieu-nay-247576.html