According to Russia’s military, they have successfully captured a village in eastern Ukraine, while Ukrainian officials offered no comment but claimed that Russian forces were facing heavy losses. Russia’s armed forces have been focusing on the eastern Donetsk region after they failed to advance on Kyiv at the start of the 21-month-old conflict.
Despite their progress being slow, Ukraine managed to regain large chunks of territory a year ago. However, a new counteroffensive launched in June has only resulted in incremental gains in the east and south.
The Defence Ministry of Russia reported that their forces had seized Khromove, a village near Bakhmut, which had previously been seized by Russian forces in May after heavy fighting. The village, with a pre-war population of about 1,000, is now under Russian control.
According to unofficial accounts, part of the village was held by Russian forces, but it was dismissed that the village was fully under Russian control. Russian forces have also been focusing on seizing the devastated town of Avdiivka since mid-October, which is seen as a gateway to the Russian-held regional centre of Donetsk, 20 km to the east.
Oleksandr Shtupun, a Ukrainian military spokesperson, reported that Russian front line shelling and air strikes had doubled following the end of several days of rain. Russian troops attempted to move on Ukrainian lines by sending waves of up to 20 armored vehicles at a time.
Shtupun also stated that Russian forces were trying to move further south in Zaporizhzhia region near two towns on which Ukrainian forces had focused in their counteroffensive. The number of front line combat clashes was reported to be at its highest level in a month, indicating that Russian forces are trying to seize the initiative.
Military analyst Serhiy Zgurets noted that Russian troops were attempting to put pressure on Ukrainian defenses in different sectors and were within 9 km of the town of Kupiansk. Despite the significant losses, Russian forces are still attempting to advance further into Ukrainian territory.
(Reporting by Ron Popeski and Oleksandr Kozhukhar; Editing by Daniel Wallis)
