The Ukrainian Deputy Defense Minister warned on Wednesday that Russia, in “numerical superiority”, is “intensifying” attacks in eastern Ukraine, the same day that the Western allies announced the supply of tanks to kyiv.
“The fighting is intensifying,” stressed Ganna Malear, referring to the attacks in the Donetsk region in eastern Ukraine, in the areas near Bakhmout, which Muscovite troops have been trying to conquer for several months, but also in Vougledar. .
This is the first time that Vougledar, a city that had about 15,000 inhabitants before the war and located southwest of Donetsk, is explicitly mentioned among the zones of “intense” combat, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported.
“The intensity of the fight is increasing,” Malear insisted in a message on the Telegram social network.
“In Donbass, against numerical and weapons superiority [da Rússia]The advantage on our side lies in the professionalism of the military command and the courage of the soldiers”, the Vice Minister of Defense also highlighted.
The Ukrainian army admitted today that it had withdrawn from Soledar, two weeks after Russian forces announced the capture of the small town in eastern Ukraine near Bakhmut.
Soledar’s strategic importance has been questioned, with the Washington-based Institute for the Study of War (ISW) saying its achievement would not amount to “an operationally significant development.”
The Russian army presents the conquest of Soledar as a key step in the siege of the nearby city of Bakhmut, which it has been seeking to capture since the summer.
American television CNN reported on Tuesday that the United States and European countries advised kyiv to abandon Bakhmut and prioritize an offensive in the south, “using a different fighting style that takes advantage of billions of dollars in compromised new military materiel.” .
kyiv’s allies pledged today to send tanks to Ukraine and the United States announced the deployment of 31 Abrams tanks.
Also today, Berlin confirmed the supply of 14 Leopard 2 tanks to kyiv, authorizing other countries to send these combat vehicles to Ukraine. The German defense minister said the tanks could be operational on Ukrainian soil in about three months.
The military offensive launched on February 24, 2022 by Russia in Ukraine has so far caused the flight of more than 14 million people -6.5 million internally displaced persons and almost eight million to European countries-, according to the latest data from the UN, which catalogs this refugee crisis as the worst in Europe since the Second World War (1939-1945).
Right now, 17.7 million Ukrainians need humanitarian aid and 9.3 million need food aid and shelter.
The Russian invasion – justified by Russian President Vladimir Putin as the need to “denazify” and demilitarize Ukraine for Russia’s security – was condemned by the wider international community, which has responded by sending arms to Ukraine and imposing them on Russia in political and economic sanctions.
The UN presented as confirmed since the beginning of the war 7,068 dead civilians and 11,415 wounded, stressing that these figures are far below the real ones.
Source: TSF
