Extension | Russia intensifies its attacks in Donbass and tries to take control of Sloviansk and Severodonetsk
Russia is stepping up attacks in Donbass in eastern Ukraine and trying to advance towards Sloviansk and Severodonetsk, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and the General Staff of the Kyiv Armed Forces said on Sunday. “The situation in Donbass is very difficult,” Zelenskyy said in his usual daily video message. The President stated that “as in the past few days, the Russian army is trying to advance towards Sloviansk and Severodonetsk” and that “the Ukrainian armed forces are holding back this offensive”. “Every day that our defenders repel and thwart these Russian offensive plans becomes a tangible contribution to the key day’s approach. The long awaited day we are all waiting for and fighting for. Victory Day,” he said.
On the 88th day of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, “the Russian enemy does not stop conducting offensive operations in the Eastern Operational Zone,” the General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces announces in its daily report published on Facebook and collected by the local agencies. In the direction of Donetsk, the occupiers are trying to break through the defenses of the Ukrainian troops and reach the administrative borders of the Luhansk region.
Russian troops conducted airstrikes against civilian infrastructure in the Vrubivka and Bakhmut areas, the report said. The enemy did not conduct active combat operations in the Liman direction, but shelled the infrastructure in the area of the Liman, Ozerne, Zakitne, Dibrova and Serebryanka population centers. In the Severodonetsk direction, the enemy fired at the positions of the Defense Forces along the entire line of contact with mortars and artillery, concentrating their efforts on the cities of Severodonetsk and Lisichansk, as noted by the Ukrainian military command.
Russian troops conducted offensive and assault operations in the Oskolonivka, Purdivka, Shchedrishcheve and Smolianinove areas; The offensive was repulsed, the enemy suffered casualties and were forced to retreat to the old positions, he said. In the direction of Bakhmut, Russian troops with artillery support are trying to improve the tactical situation in the areas of the settlements of Tripillia, Lipove and Vasilivka; the fighting goes on.
In the direction of Avdiivka, the Russian occupiers suffered casualties near the village of Krasnohorivka. In the direction of Kurajiv, the enemy unsuccessfully stormed the Marinka area; shot at Novomikhailivka and Volodimyrivka and carried out air raids on the settlements of Mikilske and Katerinivka.
In the direction of Novopavlivsk and Zaporizhia, the enemy tried to gain a foothold on the occupied borders and shelled the positions of the defense forces and civilian infrastructure. The General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces also declared that “Russian enemy forces are preparing to resume the offensive against Sloviansk” and shelled the areas around the population centers of Vernopil, Dibrivne and Dovhenke. According to the Ukrainian army, the enemy has deployed Ikander-M tactical missiles in the Belgorod region of Russia and is expanding its system of logistics and repair bases.
The report said that over the past 24 hours, the Ukrainian armed forces repelled nine enemy attacks in the direction of Donetsk and Luhansk, and also managed to destroy five tanks, four artillery systems, ten units of armored fighting vehicles and two enemy vehicles reaching an Orlan-10 unmanned aerial vehicle . (Efe)