In view of the advance of Russian troops in the eastern Ukrainian region of Kharkiv, the Ukrainian army has moved reserves to the Kupyansk sector. Meanwhile, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy visited soldiers at the front in the south-eastern region of Zaporizhia. And Latvia is stepping up border protection with Russia's ally Belarus.

Ukraine wants to prevent Russian advances near Kupyansk

"Positions were strengthened, certain methodological recommendations were made and reserves were moved," said the spokesman for Army Group East, Serhiy Cherevatyy, on Ukrainian news television with regard to troop reinforcements near Kupyansk. This prevents further advances by the enemy.

According to Ukrainian and Russian military observers, the Russian army has advanced to within about seven kilometers of the city of Kupyansk. The local authorities have also already ordered an evacuation of civilians around the city. Kupyansk was only liberated from Russian occupation last year as part of a successful Ukrainian counter-offensive.

Ukraine reports recapture of Uroshayne

According to the Ukrainian army, during its counter-offensive in the south, the village of Uroshayne, which had been fought over for days, was completely under control. "Uroshayne is liberated," Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Malyar wrote on Wednesday on the social network Telegram. The Ukrainian soldiers therefore fortified their positions on the outskirts. The general staff in Kiev said in its morning report that Russian counter-attacks on the site had been fended off.

Ukrainian Danube ports attacked with combat drones

The ports of Ukraine at the mouth of the Danube, which are important for grain exports, were attacked by the Russian army with combat drones on Wednesday night. As reported by the administration of the Odessa region, warehouses and grain silos were damaged in a port. The place was not mentioned. The fires were extinguished by the fire department, Governor Oleh Kniper wrote on Telegram. There were no dead or injured.

The Ukrainian Air Force announced that 13 Iranian-made combat drones were shot down overnight over the Odessa and Mykolaiv regions. Russia has been blocking Ukrainian grain exports across the Black Sea since mid-July. The ports on the Danube, which are an important alternative route, were also attacked from the air several times. These attacks often take place just a few hundred meters from NATO territory because Romania is on the other bank of the Danube.

Nocturnal drone strikes were also reported from the Kharkiv region in the east.

Selenskyj to visit the front in the Zaporizhia region

Selenskyj, who only traveled to the Donetsk region in eastern Ukraine at the beginning of the week, now also visited positions close to the front in the south-eastern region of Zaporizhia. "Thank you for the service, thank you for defending Ukraine on this important southern stretch," he said at a field hospital.

In his evening video speech, Zelenskyy said that he had been informed by the commanders, among other things, about the use of weapons and equipment that international partners had supplied to Ukraine.

Latvia is also increasing protection of the border with Belarus

After Poland and Lithuania, Latvia is now stepping up protection of its border with neighboring Belarus. According to the border guards of the Baltic EU and NATO countries, additional officers will be deployed in the future because there is a "rapidly increasing hybrid threat".

Within 24 hours, 96 people tried to illegally cross the border from Belarus to Latvia. The authorities of the authoritarian neighboring country are also increasingly involved in organizing irregular border crossings by migrants, according to a statement.

UN organization: Nearly 10,000 civilians killed

In the almost 18 months of Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights registered the deaths of almost 10,000 civilians. A new report put the number of confirmed civilian deaths at 9,444. 16,940 people were injured.

The census cannot be complete because information is missing from many regions, the High Commissioner (OHCHR) commented on the numbers. This applies above all to cities such as Mariupol, Lysychansk and Sievjerodonetsk, which were occupied by Russian troops after long periods of shelling and heavy fighting. In Kiev it is feared that thousands or even tens of thousands more Ukrainians have actually been killed.

What is important today

In the east and south of Ukraine, Kiev's counter-offensive to liberate the areas occupied by Russia continues.