(Portal) – Russia and Ukraine on Tuesday said the situation on the battlefield in eastern Ukraine’s Donetsk region was difficult and claimed to have successfully repelled their mutual attacks.
The so-called Donetsk People’s Republic is one of four regions in Ukraine that Moscow declared its own in September in an exercise that Ukraine and its allies denounced as a “sham” and a forced referendum.
It is difficult to move forward in some areas of the region, said the Moscow-based top official in the occupied parts of the territory in eastern Ukraine, but added that more than half of Donetsk is under Russian control.
“Slightly more than 50 percent of the territory of the Donetsk People’s Republic has been liberated,” Denis Pushilin, Russia’s appointed administrator of the Moscow-controlled part, told the Russian state news agency RIA.
Portal could not independently verify the report.
Fierce fighting in the region in recent weeks has left it unclear which parts of Donetsk are under Russian and Ukrainian control.
Ukraine’s top military command said in its daily battlefield update on Tuesday that its forces repulsed the Russians in 10 areas of the region.
Russia has claimed it is progressively advancing its positions, and the Defense Ministry said on Monday that its offensive there the previous day had killed 30 Ukrainian servicemen.
However, Pushilin said the situation along the Lyman contact line in the north of the region was difficult. Ukraine freed Lyman hours after Putin announced the annexation of Donetsk in September.
“The situation remains difficult, the enemy is trying to counterattack, but our units are now holding all positions,” RIA quoted Pushilin as saying. “It’s not always possible to get ahead.”
Russian units surrounded the town of Maryinka, where fierce fighting was raging on the streets, Russia’s state agency TASS said on Tuesday, citing another official deployed by Moscow.
The story goes on
The General Staff of Ukraine’s Armed Forces said its forces repelled a Russian attack on the frontline town.
Russia’s continued shelling of the frontline in Donetsk has completely destroyed the town of Bakhmut and severely damaged the town of Avdiivka, which lies in the center of the region, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Friday.
On Monday, the General Staff of Ukraine’s Armed Forces said Russia continued to focus its efforts on advancing and capturing both cities.
“In the vicinity of Bakhmut, the occupiers rained down mortar and artillery fire on almost 20 settlements,” it said in a daily evening update. Nine settlements came under fire near Avdiivka, the military said.
Britain’s MoD said Russia is likely still planning deeper advances in Donetsk, but expressed doubts about its ability to do so.
“It is highly unlikely that the Russian military is currently able to assemble an effective strike force capable of retaking these areas,” it said.
“Russia’s ground forces are unlikely to make any significant operational advances in the next few months.”
(Melbourne reporting by Lidia Kelly; editing by Stephen Coates)