Tag 77 in the war of the Russians against Ukraine: Poor planning, inadequate supplies, abysmal morale, soft ground, the Russian offensive was stuck for weeks. In the meantime, however, the concentration of troops and heavy weapons in eastern Ukraine is having an effect: the Russian army is making clear gains in territory in the Donbass. Around 80 percent of the two provinces of Donetsk and Luhansk are said to already be in Russian hands, so Putin could at least achieve one of the goals of his war. “The enemy is continuing its offensive efforts in the East Operational Zone with the aim of establishing full control over the Donetsk, Luhansk and Kherson regions and maintaining the land corridor to the temporarily occupied Crimea,” the Ukrainian General Staff said on Thursday.
Russian forces are also attempting to build floating bridges across the Donets River. Moscow is strengthening its forces on the sector of the front near Sloviansk, one of the most important targets of the Russian offensive efforts in the Donbass. According to this, around 300 new military vehicles are said to have been relocated to the area in preparation for new attacks.
Hard Fronts in Mariupol
According to the management report, however, there have been few changes in Mariupol. There, the defenders entrenched in the steelworks would continue to be bombed. Artillery battles are reported from the south of Ukraine, both from the Zaporizhia region and in the direction of Mykolaiv and Krivy.
prisoner exchange
The Ukrainian leadership is proposing to the Russian military a trade for the last defenders of the port city entrenched in the Azovstal steelworks in Mariupol. “We are transporting our seriously wounded boys in a humanitarian corridor from Azovstal,” said Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk, according to the Ukrainian Truth. At the same time, the Ukrainian military is releasing Russian prisoners of war “according to standard rules for their exchange”.
Negotiations are still ongoing and no agreement has yet been reached.
In the past few days, there have been several reports of the suffering of the wounded Ukrainian soldiers in the steelworks. According to a paramedic, there is now an absolute shortage of medication. The spacious steelworks is the last bastion of the Ukrainian troops in the port city, which has meanwhile been badly damaged Mariupol. The Russian military is demanding that the defenders surrender, while the Ukrainian troops categorically refuse.