Ukraine has reported the recapture of a small area near Bakhmut – and confirmed its desire for “Taurus” cruise missiles. According to Kiev, Russia again attacked major Ukrainian cities with drones and rockets.
Ukrainian troops are making progress in retaking territory near the Russian-controlled city of Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine, officials said. The army managed to liberate around five square kilometers in the surrounding area last week, said Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maljar. Overall, the Ukrainian troops around Bakhmut have recaptured 40 square kilometers since the start of their counter-offensive a good ten weeks ago.
Russian troops continued to attack and regroup around the cities of Kupyansk and Lyman, also in eastern Ukraine, she added. “The Russians intensified these offensives after the success of the Ukrainian army on the Bakhmut axis.”
Apparently also fighting in Donetsk
However, the Ukrainian military had advanced around the village of Staromajorske, nearly 100 kilometers southwest of Russian-held Donetsk. She did not provide information on land gains. There are also fights over control of the neighboring town of Uroschaine, Maljar said.
“Fighting is taking place near Uroshaine, and the battle is for this special place,” Maljar said on an official military platform. “There are some successes on the south and south-east axes near Staromajorske.”
As recently as Sunday, a Russian governor in the Ukrainian Zaporizhia Oblast said the enemy troops were trying to gain a foothold in the two towns and break through the Russian lines.
conflicting parties as a source
Information on the course of the war, shelling and casualties provided by official bodies of the Russian and Ukrainian conflict parties cannot be directly checked by an independent body in the current situation.
Kyiv: advances in the Kherson region
The Deputy Defense Minister also confirmed advances by Ukrainian units on the Russian-held bank of the Dnipro River in the Kherson region. But they hadn’t settled there yet, she made it clear. “In order to establish yourself, you have to displace the enemy, clear the territory,” Maljar said.
Earlier, Ukrainian media circulated video footage showing a Russian major allegedly captured during one of the raids. In the recording, he provides detailed information on Russian defense positions.
Shaded: territories occupied by Russia
In the current counter-offensive, the Ukrainians are constantly encountering minefields, anti-tank ditches and other obstacles, as well as Russian defenses in layers. According to Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov, the Russian defense lines are so densely mined that in some parts of the front there are up to five mines per square meter.
In a conversation with the British “Guardian” he spoke of millions of explosive devices along the front. There are minefields stretching over hundreds of kilometers. This represents a serious obstacle to the counter-offensive of the Ukrainian troops.
Russia uses missile and drone attacks away
Meanwhile, Russia continued to attack major Ukrainian cities. According to authorities, at least two people died. Rescue workers found the dead in the rubble of two residential buildings in Zaporizhia, the Interior Ministry in Kiev said. Three people were saved.
In the southern port city of Odessa, three workers at a large supermarket were injured. The administration of the Odessa region said that falling rocket parts damaged the supermarket and a dormitory. Fires had broken out.
The Russian army is said to have used 15 drones against Odessa and fired eight “Kalibr” cruise missiles from the sea. They were all intercepted, Governor Oleh Kiper said. Such information about the fighting is often not independently verifiable.
Russia has been blocking Ukrainian grain exports via Odessa and other Black Sea ports since mid-July and has since shelled the city several times.
According to the Sumy regional military administration, Russia again attacked the Ukrainian territory near the Russian border. Yesterday alone, the enemy shelled the region in north-eastern Ukraine 21 times with mortars and artillery, the military administration said on Facebook. A total of 144 explosions were registered. At least two residential buildings were damaged in the attacks. The information could not be independently verified.
Ukraine continues to demand “Taurus”-cruise missile
Ukraine reiterated the urgency of its request for the delivery of German Taurus cruise missiles. “In the current phase, it is of crucial importance to smash the extensive rear support system of the Russian occupying forces,” Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podoliak told the “Bild” newspaper. He was reacting to reluctant statements by Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) about a delivery.
In particular, Ukraine must attack supply reserves, the rear logistics infrastructure, ammunition depots and bases that Russia has set up in the Ukrainian territories it occupies, said Ukrainian Presidential Advisor Volodymyr Zelenskyy. “But all this is at a distance of 100, 200, 300 kilometers from the front line.” Only long-range missiles like “Taurus” could reach such distances.
The presidential adviser again assured that Ukraine would not use the German cruise missiles against targets on Russian territory, but “only on the territory of Ukraine within the internationally recognized borders of 1991”. The fear that Ukraine could shell Russian territory with the bunker-busting weapons at a range of 500 kilometers is the reason for the hesitation in Berlin.