According to Kyiv, Russian troops are advancing in the east with strong local resistance
Russian troops continue their attempts from neighboring and also pro-Russian Donetsk to “break through Ukraine’s defenses and advance to the border of the pro-Russian Lugansk region,” the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported on its Facebook page on Monday.
After occupying the city of Mariupol, the Russians have focused their efforts on controlling the Donbass, the country’s eastern region that includes Donetsk and Lugansk provinces, with a pro-Russian majority and self-proclaimed independent republics controlled by Moscow for days beforehand to order the invasion of the neighboring country.
The military report highlights that the Belarusian armed forces have intensified their reconnaissance activities and are deploying additional troops near the Ukraine-Belarus border. The Belarusians are expanding their reconnaissance activities, particularly on the Volyn and Polissia fronts, which border the two countries, and deploying additional units in the border areas in the Gomel region in southern Belarus. The Ukrainian army claims there is still a threat of air and missile attacks on Ukraine from Belarusian territory.
In Slobozhansk, in central Ukraine, units of the 6th Combined Arms Army of the Western Military District and the Baltic Fleet of the Russian Federation are trying to hold their positions on the front line of the Kharkov region, the capital of which is the second largest city in the country, has already stopped to be bombed.
Units of the Western, Eastern and Central Military Districts and the 11th Army Corps of the Russian Federation’s Baltic Fleet are preparing to resume an offensive on the Sloviansk front, one of the cities hardest hit in recent days.
In the same area and according to the military report, the Russian troops tried to advance towards the town of Dovhenke, but the Ukrainian Defense Forces repulsed their attacks, and the Russians suffered casualties and retreated.
On the Severodonetsk front in the east of the country – and another of the hardest hit – the Russian army’s efforts are focused on capturing the eponymous city, although it also conducted an assault operation near Toshkivka.
Russia has been conducting airstrikes against civilian infrastructure in cities in various regions such as Avdiivka, Novoselivka Druha, Nowomykhailivka and Mykilske over the past 24 hours.
Due to the losses suffered in the hostilities, Russia was forced to use T-62 tanks intended for the tactical groups of the reserve battalion being formed and being prepared for action in Ukraine, according to the Ukrainian military report. In addition, Russia is now using previously damaged and repairable military hardware to replenish ammunition and equipment lost in various battles.
Meanwhile, Ukraine’s military says it has repelled 11 Russian attacks on the Donetsk and Luhansk fronts in the past 24 hours, destroying six Russian tanks, 10 armored fighting vehicles and six motorized vehicles.
On these fronts, they also shot down an Orlan-10 UAV aircraft and a Su-25 aircraft. The air and anti-aircraft missile units of the Ukrainian Air Force also shot down four Russian cruise missiles, according to the Ukrainian Army War Report. (EUROPE PRESS)