Kyiv claims successes in southeast Ukraine, as Putin says fighting in region has ‘intensified’
Kyiv has claimed successes in southeast Ukraine as part of its ongoing counteroffensive, with Russian President Vladimir Putin confirming that fighting in the region has âintensified significantlyâ.
According to a video published by President Volodymyr Zelensky on Thursday, Ukrainian soldiers have recaptured the village of Staromaiorske from Russian forces in the Donetsk province.
The village lies to the south of a cluster of other small settlements Ukraine has taken back since launching its campaign in June to eject Russian troops from the nearly 20 per cent of land still under occupation.
âThe 35th brigade and the âAriyâ territorial defence unit have fulfilled their task and liberated the village of Staromaiorske. Glory to Ukraine!â said a soldier in the video that Reuters was unable to immediately geolocate.
âOur defenders are now continuing to clear the settlement,â said Ukrainian Deputy Defence Minister Hanna Maliar.
Oleksandr Kovalenko, a Ukrainian military analyst, said Ukrainian troops now needed to reach another village, Staromlynivka, less than 5km away.
âIt really serves as a stronghold for the Russian occupiers, the peak of the second defensive line in this location,â he said in an interview with the RBC UA media outlet.
âThe process is therefore entirely logically first, take Staromayorske, stabilise the flanks, and advance to the second line, where the main striking groups will be engaged to break through,â he said.
Russian troops are heavily entrenched in the strategically important south, where they have prepared a sprawling network of trenches, minefields, anti-tank ditches and lines of âdragonâs teethâ barricades.
Fighting has escalated in recent weeks at multiple points along the 930-mile frontline as Ukraine deploys western-supplied advanced weapons and western-trained troops against the deeply entrenched Russian forces, who invaded 17 months ago.
Vladimir Putin on Thursday said fighting in the Zaporizhzhia region, also in southeast Ukraine, has âintensified significantlyâ.
The Russian President, who is in St Petersburg for a summit of African leaders, praised the âheroismâ with which Russian soldiers have repelled Ukrainian attacks and claimed Moscowâs troops not only destroyed multiple pieces of military equipment but also inflicted heavy losses on Kyivâs forces.
His claims could not be independently verified.
The leader of the Wagner mercenary group, Yevgeny Priozhin, was also pictured at the event looking relaxed in jeans and a T-shirt, despite supposedly agreeing to relocate to Belarus after leading a botched mutiny against Moscow last month.
Ukrainian officials have been mostly silent about battlefield developments since they began early counteroffensive operations, though deputy defence minister Hanna Maliar said troops are advancing toward the city of Melitopol in Zaporizhizhia.
The Institute of Study of War, a Washington-based think tank, said Ukrainian forces launched âa significant mechanised counteroffensive operation in western Zaporizhzhia regionâ on Wednesday, adding that they âappear to have broken through certain pre-prepared Russian defensive positionsâ.
It cited Russian sources, including the Russian defence ministry and several prominent Russian military bloggers.
Moscow-appointed head of the partially occupied Zaporizhzhia region, Yevgeny Balitsky, said Ukrainian forces on Thursday morning tried unsuccessfully to break through Russian defences in the area.
Kyivâs forces âsuffered significant losses and pulled back to (their) positionsâ, Mr Balistky said.
However, in what appeared to be a precautionary move, Russiaâs Federal Security Service (FSB) on Thursday banned civilian access to the Arabat Spit, a narrow strip of land linking the annexed peninsula Crimea to the partially occupied Kherson region.
The Kherson region is a key gateway to Crimea. The open-ended ban is needed to contain security threats, the FSB said in a statement quoted by Russiaâs state news agency RIA Novosti.
