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In his nightly video address, Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy discussed the death of a Ukraine journalist Alexander Makhov near Izium in the Kharkiv region. "He was 36 years old. My sincere condolences to relatives and friends. Let his son Vladyslav know: Russia will bear responsibility for this death. We will definitely gain victory for Ukraine."
Senior American officials told that the U.S. has been providing intelligence to Ukraine that has helped Kyiv’s forces target and kill many of the Russian generals who have died in action in the war. Ukraine said they have killed about 12 generals on the front lines, the reported. The targeting help is part of a classified effort by the Biden administration to provide real-time battlefield intelligence to Ukraine, according to the newspaper.
Sweden has received assurances from the United States that it would receive support during the period a potential application to join NATO is processed by the 30 nations in the alliance, Foreign Minister Ann Linde said in Washington on Wednesday, according to Reuters. Sweden and neighbor Finland stayed out of NATO during the Cold War, but Russia's annexation of Crimea in 2014 and its invasion of Ukraine have led the countries to rethink their security policies, with NATO membership looking increasingly likely, .
Both countries are concerned they would be vulnerable during an application process, which could take up to a year to be approved by all NATO's members, according to the Reuters report.
Retired U.S. Army Maj. Gen. Mike Repass, the former commander of the U.S. Special Operations Command in Europe, that the international community has to greatly increase its support for Ukraine if it is to drive out Russian forces. Repass, who has advised the Ukraine military for the past six years on a U.S. government contract, told CNN the Ukrainian supply chain for military equipment is inefficient and that additional military forces are required to drive the Russians out of Ukraine.
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty on Wednesday published taken during the war in Ukraine earlier this week.
Osnat Lubrani, the United Nation's Ukraine resident coordinator and humanitarian coordinator, posted on Twitter:
Lubrani said, "Over 300 civilians from Mariupol, Manhush, Berdiansk, Tokmak and Vasylivka are now receiving humanitarian assistance in Zaporizhzhia. Many came with nothing but the clothes they were wearing, and we will now support them during this difficult time, including with much-needed psychological support."
Oksana Balandina, a nurse, lost both her legs and four fingers on one hand in a mine explosion in March. She also lost her will to live, but her family has restored her spirits. At the hospital where she is being treated, they held a wedding ceremony for her and her partner Victor Vasylyev. Current Time, a co-production of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and VOA, .
"We still assess that in the maritime domain, there's, there are still blockades. They're (Russians are) still restricting the ability of Ukraine to trade economically," Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said during the Pentagon daily briefing, VOA Pentagon correspondent Carla Babb reports. Kirby said the Pentagon also believes Russian progress in the Donbas, and even in the South, "has been uneven and it has been slower than we believe they anticipated" in general because they still haven't fixed logistics and sustainment issues, and also because of Ukrainian resistance.
Journalist “Alexander Makhov was killed" in Russian shelling, the news site Ukraine24 posted on its Facebook page Wednesday. Several media reported that Makhov died near Izium, about 120 kilometers southeast of Kharkiv. “Alexander worked for many years on the channels ‘Ukraine’ and ‘Ukraine24’ and covered the events on the forefront. Alexander served in the Armed Forces of Ukraine,” the post read.
A senior U.S. defense official briefed reporters on the latest developments in Ukraine. He said Russian progress in the eastern Donbas region is “stalled.” Russian airstrikes in the western town of Lviv appear to be targeting critical infrastructure, specifically electricity, he said, but added that it had “no appreciable impact” so far. Russia has not impacted the delivery of U.S. and other Western aid to Ukraine, he noted. He said that about 2,000 Russian troops remain around the southern port city of Mariupol, but the rest of the battalion tactical groups have left and were trying to move north. VOA’s National Security Correspondent Jeff Seldin monitored the briefing and shared details on Twitter.