2023-07-03 03:14:00
Ukrainian forces in Donetsk (AFP)
Russia and Ukraine
Al Arabiya.net – Agencies
Posted on: July 03, 2023: 07:14 AM GST Last updated: July 03, 2023: 08:03 AM GST
Despite the start of its counterattack against Russia, Kiev revealed that it is facing difficulties in the northeastern region, as it is confronting a Russian attack there, noting at the same time that the Ukrainian forces are making progress near the city of Bakhmut in the south.
“The situation is inflamed everywhere” in the east, with Russian forces advancing near the besieged cities of Avdiivka and Marinka in the Donetsk region, Hana Malyar, Ukraine’s deputy defense minister, said on Telegram late Sunday.
She also added that Russian forces also launched an attack in Svatov, referring to an area in northeastern Ukraine in which Russian forces are active, pointing out that fierce fighting is taking place there and that the situation is very complicated, as she put it.
Partial success in Bakhmut
On the other hand, Malyar added, the Ukrainian forces achieved “partial success” south of Bakhmut, which Russian forces took control of in late May after fierce fighting that lasted for several months.
Regarding the southern front, in which the Ukrainian forces recovered several villages, Malyar indicated that there was “gradual progress” in two regions.
“Our forces are facing stiff resistance from the enemy, mines from a distance, and the enemy’s redeployment of its reservists, but they are tirelessly creating the conditions for the fastest possible advance,” she wrote.
According to Russian accounts of the situation on the frontlines, Russian forces repulsed Ukrainian attacks near the villages around Bakhmut and further south, particularly the strategic hilltop town of Vokhlar. It was also reported that it succeeded in confronting the Ukrainian forces in the northeastern region.
Ukrainian forces in Donetsk (AFP)
Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky honored the troops in the port of Odessa and vowed that “the enemy will in no way dictate its terms in the Black Sea!”
For his part, Gen. Oleksandr Tarnavsky, commander of the Southern Front, said that Ukrainian forces were “systematically destroying the enemy” and that several hundred Russian troops had been killed in the past 24 hours.
Slow progress
Zelensky and the commander-in-chief of the Ukrainian forces, Valery Zaluzhny, said the forces had made steady, albeit slow, progress in the counterattack. The president acknowledges that progress is limited but says the attack “is not a Hollywood movie” that is an instant success.
The Ukrainian army is engaged in a counter-offensive to retake areas in the east and south of the country that Russia captured during its 16-month-old invasion.
The advance of Ukrainian forces is focused first on securing groups of villages in the south.
Ukrainian forces target Russian tanks in Bakhmut (Archyde.com)
Ukraine has been subjected to air attacks launched by Russia on Ukrainian cities, but the Kremlin denies carrying out attacks on civilian targets.
Russia launched a drone attack last night on Kiev and the surrounding area after a break of 12 days, but the air defense systems destroyed all the planes as soon as they approached.
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