Along with the city of Kupiansk (population 30,000 before the start of the war), 36 other cities in the district “near the combat zone” will be hit, Kharkiv governor Oleg Sinegubov said on the Telegram social network.
The statements by Sinegubov and the spokesman of the Eastern Ukrainian military command, Serhii Cherevatyi, coincide with instructions from the Russian army, which today guaranteed it was “improving positions” in northeastern Ukraine, an area in Kupiansk where the launched an offensive a few weeks ago and from which Russian troops were driven back a year ago in a Ukrainian offensive.
Towards Kupiansk, the Russian Ministry of Defense states in its daily report, the assault units of “Western battlegroups have improved their positions in the front line during offensive action”.
Cherevatyi, quoted by the Ukrinform news portal, admitted that the enemy in Kupiansk is trying to break through the Ukrainian defenses, but underlined that the decision to strengthen this direction will allow Kiev’s armed forces to “keep the situation under control” despite the fact that the Russian military has carried out 16 airstrikes in the past 24 hours.
“Kupiansk is a sector where the enemy is trying to take the initiative, trying to act aggressively and break through our defenses. But due to a series of measures that were taken, including the fact that the commander worked directly in this area, orders and the defense “The situation, although difficult, is under control. We know the enemy units, their commanders, their intentions, so we act in a way that disrupts their plans,” Cherevatyi said.
Already in Bakhmut, Cherevatyi said on Ukrainian television, troops from Kiev are continuing their offensive in the sector.
“Today the enemy on the eastern front cannot influence our positions. He only operates from distant positions. He carries out about 20 attacks a day and, as a rule, they are Mi-24 or Ka-52 attack helicopters, Su-25 or newer Su- 35. This is a powerful but not fundamental strike force and we are handling it well,” said Cherevatyi.
According to the spokesman, the Ukrainian defenders are “currently more disturbed by rocket artillery”, which has not prevented the continuation of the offensive in the Bakhmut sector.
“We have two main sectors left: that of Bakhmut, where our forces exert strong pressure on the enemy, destroying enemy personnel and equipment, who are desperately resisting, using all types of artillery,” he underlined.
“It attacked our positions 580 times in the last 24 hours. There were five clashes and three enemy air strikes. During the fighting towards Bakhmut, 56 occupants were killed, 104 wounded and five captured. Three T-tanks were destroyed: 72 enemies, an armored car, three infantry transport vehicles, one [veículo anfíbio de infantaria] BMD, D-30 howitzers, three field munitions depots, an unmanned aerial vehicle and two Lancet ‘kamikaze’ drones,” Cherevatyi claimed.
The military offensive launched by Russia in Ukraine on February 24, 2022 has so far led to the flight of more than 14.7 million people – 6.5 million internally displaced persons and more than 8.2 million to European countries – according to the latest data from the UN, which classifies this refugee crisis as the worst in Europe since World War II (1939-1945). ‘
The invasion, justified by the Russian President, Vladimir Putin, with the need to “denazify” and demilitarize Ukraine for Russia’s security, was condemned by the international community at large, which responded by sending weapons to Kiev and Moscow imposing political and economic sanctions.
Source: DN
