Russia said on Tuesday the 20th that it had recaptured Krynky, a town on the eastern bank of the Dnieper where the Ukrainian army managed to establish a bridgehead in October, one of its few advances since the failure of its counteroffensive.
This new success for Moscow in the Russianoccupied territory of Ukraine was announced by the Russian Defense Minister shortly after his army captured the eastern city of Avdiivka and just days before the start of the third year of the war.
“I confirm that Krynky has been purified. In fact, the entire margin [oriental do Dnieper] It is under our control,” Sergei Shoigu said in a televised conversation with President Vladimir Putin.
Ukrainian forces have been trying to gain ground on the left bank of the Dnieper in the Kherson region for months.
Despite the complicated conditions, particularly due to the swamps and the need to cross the river under fire, they had managed to establish positions in Krynky. However, the Russians bombed the area heavily and Krynky was completely destroyed.
During the conversation between Shoigu and Putin, the president also mocked what he called the “chaotic escape” of Ukrainian troops from Avdiivka.
'Great success'
Ukraine gave the order to withdraw its troops from this city in the Donetsk region “for political reasons in order to disguise this movement and make it look like an organized withdrawal,” the Russian president commented.
The capture of Avdiivka, his first major success since the capture of Bakhmut in May 2023, was “a great success,” the defense minister said, adding that the troops who fought there were “resting and preparing for new battles.”
Russia is continuing its offensive in several sectors of the front. Ukraine has reported dozens of Russian attacks in the east and south of the country.
The Russian offensives come as Ukraine marks the 10th anniversary of the deaths of dozens of protesters in Kiev during the proEuropean Maidan revolution that toppled a proRussian government. Shortly thereafter, Russia annexed the Crimean peninsula.
“Ten years have passed since then [o início] of attempts to destroy us and our independence,” Ukrainian President Volodimir Zelenskyy posted on Facebook this Tuesday. “But we stood firm 10 years ago and continue to do so today,” he added.
The Ukrainian General Staff said in its morning press conference this Tuesday that at least 84 Russian attacks had been recorded in the last 24 hours and all had been “repelled”.
Although Russian operations around Avdiivka have slowed significantly, there have been numerous attacks near Marinka (east), near Bakhmut (east), and in the Zaporizhzhia region (south).
Accumulated exhaustion
Zelensky said on Monday that “the situation in many parts of the front is extremely difficult” and stressed that his country needs more artillery, frontline air defense and longrange weapons.
Russian forces are “exploiting delays in aid to Ukraine,” added the Ukrainian leader, who hopes crucial U.S. aid will be blocked by Republicans in the lower house of Congress.
Ukrainian Prime Minister Denis Schmigal also indicated on Tuesday that he was confident that the US Congress would approve the aid.
“I believe that the United States will support Ukraine, as will the European Union, as will Japan, as will all G7 countries and the IMF and all international financial organizations,” Shmigal said in Tokyo.
In this context, Zelensky this Tuesday thanked Sweden for the announcement of new military aid, consisting of equipment worth around 633 million euros (around 3.37 billion reais).
Senior Ukrainian officials deny “Ukraine fatigue” in the international community, but the situation on the ground is different.
Sviataslav Iaremenko, who fought against the separatists back in 2014 and rejoined the army after the invasion that began on February 24, 2022, told AFP: “After two years of war, fatigue has accumulated.”
“I think we will continue fighting for several more years,” the soldier added in Kostiantinivka, an eastern town near the front line, saying that “it will depend on the level of Western aid.”
Meanwhile, the Russians continue to bomb locations beyond the front line almost daily.
A bomb attack on a village in the northeastern Sumi region killed a mother, her two children and her grandmother, as well as another civilian, the Ukrainian army said on Tuesday.