Russian occupation authorities said on Friday they had noticed a “sharp increase in intensity” of fighting in the Zaporizhia region of southern Ukraine, where fighting was taking place “along the entire front line.”
“Never Produced Before”
“In the direction of Zaporizhia, the intensity of hostilities has increased considerably,” a leader of the Moscow-based Zaporizhia regional occupation authority, Vladimir Rogov, said on Telegram.
“If we look at the entire front line, right now there is fighting everywhere,” he told Russia’s Ria Novosti news agency.
“This has never happened before,” he said.
“Active struggle” according to Putin
The line of contact between the Ukrainian and Russian armies in the Zaporizhia region is stabilized after many mois and no combat majeur n’y a eu lieu, à l’inverse des regions Donetsk, dans l’est du pays, et Kherson, In the south.
Earlier this Friday, the Russian army claimed to have conquered the small town of Lobkové, located near the Dnieper River, more than 60 kilometers southeast of Zaporizhia, the capital of the homonymous region.
Vladimir Rogov indicated, for his part, that “it is not yet an assault on Orikhiv (the main nearby city, editor’s note), but active combat is taking place in its nearby suburbs.” “The heights (around) were taken, which determines the control of the fire in Orikhiv and other locations,” he said.
“More than 20 towns affected” Thursday
According to a morning bulletin from the Ukrainian army, “more than 20 towns were hit” in the Zaporizhzhia region on Thursday “by Russian tank, mortar and artillery fire.”
Elsewhere in Ukraine, the Russian military announced Friday that it had taken control of Klichchiivka, a small town south of Bakhmout in the country’s east, a city that has become the epicenter of fighting.
Klichchiivka, which had a population of around 500 before the war, lies less than 10 kilometers southwest of Bakhmout, the target of the Russian offensive in the region for several months.
Bakhmout is still the target of the Russians
Its capture, just days after Moscow said it had seized control of Soledar northeast of Bakhmout – which kyiv denies – would seem to indicate that Russia is now trying to encircle the big city, having attempted a frontal attack from the east that failed.
Since last summer, the Russian army, supported at the same time by mercenaries from the Wagner paramilitary group, has been trying to seize Bakhmout, without success. The city is now largely destroyed and almost empty of its civilian population.
The battle for Bakhmout, particularly bloody according to the Ukrainians and Russians, has already caused many deaths on both sides, without officially counting the victims.
Source: BFM TV
