The Ukrainian president praised his troops for the recorded progress at Bakhmut, the US leader followed the advice of the Ukrainian defense minister and silently crossed his fingers when asked about the counter-offensive. Moscow claimed to have repelled a large-scale attack hours earlier.
“Well done, warriors! We see Russia reacting hysterically to every step we take, every position we take. The enemy knows that Ukraine will win,” Volodymyr Zelensky said in a video message posted on social media. Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Malyar had already indicated “some success” on the battlefield. “The Bakhmut sector remains the epicenter of hostilities. We are advancing on a very broad front,” he said. “The defensive operation includes counter-offensive actions. Therefore, we are conducting offensive actions in some sectors,” he added.
Ukraine is preparing an offensive to recapture the territory occupied by Russia. Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov said on Sunday that words “can only do harm” and posted a video to Twitter with the lyrics of Depeche Mode’s song Enjoy the Silence. In this vein, Joe Biden, who was asked by the AFP if he thought the Ukrainian counter-offensive would work, responded by raising his hand and having his middle and index fingers crossed.
On the other side of the trench, Russia’s defense ministry said “the enemy launched a massive offensive on five sectors of the front” in the southern Donetsk region on Sunday. To support the communication, a video was published showing Ukrainian armored vehicles under heavy fire.
Still according to Moscow, the Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov was “in one of the forward command posts”. The ministry later said it had defeated “further attempts to breach Russian defenses” in southern Donetsk. The head of the Wagner mercenary group confirmed that Ukrainian forces had made gains near Bakhmut. A “disgrace”, according to Yevgeny Prigozhin, seeing the withdrawal from Berkhivka, near Bakhmut. Prigozhin challenged Gerasimov and Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu to go to the front of the battle.
Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak stated that “Moscow is actively engaged in repelling … a global offensive that “does not yet exist”. astonishment.”
Source: DN
