Counteroffensive does not aim to attack Russian territories, says Zelensky

Germany’s Chancellor Olaf Scholz (right) greets Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky at the chancellery in Berlin on Sunday. Pic/AP

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Sunday his country is preparing a counteroffensive designed to liberate areas occupied by Russia, not to attack Russian territory.

Speaking during a news conference with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in Berlin, Zelensky said Ukraine's goal is to free the territories within its internationally recognised borders. Scholz told Zelensky that Germany will support Ukraine "for as long as necessary."

Zelensky was welcomed with military honors on Sunday as he made his first visit to Germany since Russia invaded Ukraine. The Ukrainian president is visiting allies in search of further arms deliveries to help his country fend off the Russian invasion, and funds to rebuild what's been destroyed by more than a year of devastating conflict.

Four Russian military aircraft on attack mission shot down near Ukrainian border

Two Russian fighter jets and two military helicopters were shot down on Saturday close to the Ukrainian border, reported Sky News. The Su-34 fighter-bomber, Su-35 fighter and two Mi-8 helicopters had made up a raiding party, and had been "shot down almost simultaneously" in an ambush in the Bryansk region, adjoining northeast Ukraine, reported independent Russian news outlet Kommersant.

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"According to preliminary data... the fighters were supposed to deliver a missile and bomb attack on targets in the Chernihiv region of Ukraine, and the helicopters were there to back them up… among other things, to pick up the ‘Su' crews if they were shot down," it said.

China and Russia increasing military collaboration, Japan's foreign minister warns

Japanese Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi expressed concern on Saturday about Russian and Chinese military cooperation in Asia and said the security situation in Europe could not be separated from that in the Indo-Pacific region since Moscow's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Speaking at a meeting of European and Indo-Pacific foreign ministers in Sweden, Hayashi said Russia's war in Ukraine had "shaken the very foundation of the international order" and must face a united response by the international community. "Otherwise, similar challenges will arise in other regions and the existing order which has underpinned our peace and prosperity could be fundamentally overturned," Hayashi said.

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