Ukraine reported heavy fighting on the eastern front with Russian forces on Sunday, with Vladimir Putin saying the Ukrainian army’s counteroffensive, launched in June, had been defeated.
The Ukrainian General Staff indicated that the army “continues to carry out offensive actions in the Melitopol and Berdyansk areas” in the southeast, where it seeks to advance towards the Azov Sea to cut the Russian lines and isolate Crimea.
In the east, further north, “the situation has intensified a bit”, due to the efforts of the Russian forces to counterattack in several areas, where the Ukrainian army is in a “defensive” position, he has indicated for his part. the Ukrainian deputy. Defense Minister Ganna Malyar.
“For two days in a row, the enemy actively attacked in the Kupyansk sector of the Kharkiv region,” he said on Sunday. “Fierce fighting is taking place and positions… are changing several times a day.”
kyiv admitted to having fought difficult battles and called on its allies to provide more weapons and long-range artillery.
Advances in Bakhmout
But the deputy minister argued that Ukrainian forces were “gradually advancing” near Bakhmout, a small town that fell under Russian control in May after months of deadly clashes. Ukrainian soldiers are advancing south of Bakhmout and trying to hold the positions they have gained north of the city, he added.
On the front line in this area, a commander of the Ukrainian 22nd Mechanized Brigade Artillery Battalion said he was pleased with the counteroffensive, but said every meter of ground was won at the cost of heavy fighting.
“Every day we win 10, 20, 100 meters is already a great victory,” said the commander, giving himself the nom de guerre “Boulat.”
“We are encircling Bakhmout, driving (the Russians) out of Klychchivka,” a town south of the city, said “Volyna,” the commander of an artillery battery.
In the southeast, the Ukrainian army announced on Friday that it had advanced another two kilometers in a week towards Melitopol, a city occupied by the Russians shortly after the start of their offensive in February 2022.
optimistic putin
In an interview with the Rossia-1 television channel broadcast this Sunday, Vladimir Putin for his part stated that the Ukrainian counteroffensive was not advancing.
“All the enemy’s attempts to break through our defense (…) have failed since the start of the offensive. The enemy has not been successful,” the Russian president said.
“Our troops are behaving heroically. Unexpectedly for the adversary, they even go on the offensive in certain sectors and take more advantageous positions, ”he said.
Source: BFM TV
