Ukraine wants to counterattack in the second phase, Russia shoots down 2 Su-25 attack aircraft and attacks 3 Kiev weapons depots
Ukraine wants to launch a second counter-attack to achieve "some results" before the NATO meeting in July. Russia shot down two Su-25 attack aircraft and attacked three Kiev weapons depots.
According to the Financial Times, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky recently announced that Kiev wants to "achieve some achievements on the front line" before the NATO conference in Vilnius, Lithuania on July 11.
Several Ukrainian officials revealed that Mr. Zelensky expected to receive an invitation to start the process of joining NATO at the upcoming summit. Mr. Zelensky even said that he would not attend the conference unless NATO leaders offered specific security guarantees and a roadmap for joining the military bloc.
According to TASS, Ukraine plans to launch a second major counter-offensive before the Vilnius conference opens. Russian intelligence sources said that Kiev's main goal in the new counter-offensive is still to penetrate the defense lines at hot spots, aiming to approach the Azov Sea and the Crimean border.
Russia shot down two Su-25 attack aircraft
According to TASS, on July 4, the Russian Defense Ministry announced that its military shot down two Su-25 aircraft of the Ukrainian Air Force in the settlements of Georgiyevka (Donetsk region) and Orekhov (Zaporizhzhia region). In addition, five missiles of the HIMARS system were also intercepted within the past 24 hours.
According to this announcement, Russian forces shot down 14 Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) in the areas of Ploshchanka and Topolevka (Luhansk), Krynki and Sagy (Kherson), Gladkoye, Nesteryanka and Inzhenernoye (Zaporizhzhia).
On the same day, the Russian Defense Ministry reported the successful raid on three Ukrainian ammunition depots in Kharkiv, Donetsk and Zaporizhia. On other fronts, Russian forces eliminated from combat more than 300 troops, 6 self-propelled guns of various types and 15 tanks and armored vehicles.
Since the start of the special military operation, Russia claims to have caused Ukraine to lose a total of 690 military aircraft, 4,887 UAVs, 426 missile systems, 10,503 tanks and other armored fighting vehicles.
Russian singer awards soldier who shot down Leopard tank
According to TASS, on July 4, Russian singer Grigory Leps awarded a reward of 1 million rubles (about 11,300 USD) to a soldier who shot down a Leopard tank in Ukraine.
On the social network Telegram, Mr. Leps posted a video recording the scene of a soldier nicknamed Venom receiving the award. Mr. Leps's action came from the idea of music producer Vladimir Kiselyov, who proposed the initiative to award soldiers who destroy Western armored fighting vehicles.
Italy freezes $2.5 billion in Russian assets
According to Reuters, on July 4, the anti-money laundering unit of the Bank of Italy (UIF) announced that as of the end of June 2023, the total value of assets they confiscated from Russia had reached 2 billion euros (2.5 billion USD).
The UIF report said the assets seized included bank accounts, luxury villas, yachts and supercars. In addition, some political assets worth about 330 million euros, linked to 80 individuals, were also frozen as part of the sanctions.
