STANA (Kazakhstan) - (AFP) - Russian President Vladimir Putin said Friday that Russia is "doing everything right" in Ukraine, after nearly eight months of war on its neighbor, and despite a series of setbacks for the Russian army.
Putin spoke to journalists in Kazakhstan after participating in regional summits, at a time when Ukraine was celebrating the "Day of Defenders of the Country", which was an occasion for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to promise his people victory.

In response to a journalist's question about whether he feels any remorse, Putin said, "What is happening now is not comfortable, but (if Russia had not attacked Ukraine on February 24), we would have faced the same situation a little later, except that the conditions would have been worse for us." So, we are doing everything as it should be."

Likewise, Putin indicated that the massive strikes that hit vital Ukrainian infrastructure on Monday and Tuesday, as well as gardens and residential buildings, suffice for the time being. He pointed out that new intensive bombing of Ukrainian cities is not necessary "at the present time."

Russia launched this bombing campaign at the beginning of the week in response to the explosion that partially destroyed the Crimean Bridge.

The Russian president admitted for the first time that Moscow's partners in the former Soviet Union were "concerned" about the conflict in Ukraine.

For its part, Ukraine celebrated Friday the "Day of the Defenders of the Country", celebrating this army day for the first time since the beginning of the invasion.

"We thank (...) all those who fought for Ukraine in the past and all those who are fighting for it now, those who won then and those who will undoubtedly win now," Zelensky said in a video clip. He laid a wreath at a memorial to the dead in Kiev.

For his part, the commander of the Ukrainian army, Valery Zaluzhny, said, "Together towards victory."

Galina Golitsyna lost her two sons in the war: the eldest in 2014 and Denis on March 23 in Mariupol. The 61-year-old mother extends her hand and then her forehead while weeping, in the image of her youngest son, who died at the age of 32.

"Losing a son is the most horrible thing that can happen," she tells AFP, wiping tears from her eyes. "I lost my two children in the war itself. It's Remembrance Day for me."

Meanwhile, the Ukrainian authorities are showing their resolve, building on the success they have achieved on several fronts since the beginning of September.

Although Ukraine did not claim responsibility for the explosion in the Crimean Bridge, it is satisfied with the partial destruction of this bridge, which is a symbol of Russian ambitions and an essential infrastructure for supplying the forces occupying southern Ukraine and facing a Ukrainian counterattack.

The damage to it seems significant enough to prompt Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin to set July 1 as the deadline for the completion of maintenance work.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian forces have been advancing all week, village after village in the northern Kherson region, as the Russian army relies on the bridge for supplies.
On Thursday, the official appointed by Moscow, Vladimir Saldo, asked the Kremlin to help evacuate civilians, and the Russian government immediately promised that it would provide this assistance.

For his part, Kirill Strimosov, another pro-Russian official in this region, called on residents to "seize the opportunity to obtain humane residence and rest in Russia."

This comes as Russian forces maintain the initiative in part of the eastern front, as they have been trying to occupy Bakhmut since August.

By controlling this bombed-out city, Moscow hopes to pave the way towards two major cities in the Donetsk region, namely Kramatorsk and Sloviansk.

According to Andrei Marochko, representative of the separatist forces in the Luhansk region fighting in the region, "fighting is taking place in the area," and Ukrainian forces will have to retreat "towards the northwest and west of the city."

Elsewhere in Ukraine, the Russian military has experienced a series of setbacks since early September, giving up thousands of square kilometers.
These defeats prompted Putin at the end of September to order the mobilization of 300,000 reservists, in an attempt to reverse this trend.
On Friday, the Russian president confirmed that he did not plan new mobilization operations. He said that 222,000 people had been mobilized, of whom 16,000 were in "units participating in the battles."