Ukrainian military says Russian forces diverted resources for battle for the key city Bakhmut in the eastern region of Donetsk but no progress has been made.
Brigadier General Oleksii Hromov, deputy chief of the main operational command of the General Staff, said at a press conference on Thursday that the situation in the east remains difficult for Ukrainian forces, as Russian troops conducted offensive actions on several fronts, including Bakhmut, Avdiivka and towards Kupyansk, which was liberated in September.
“The main efforts of the enemy are concentrated in the direction of Bakhmut,” said Hromov. “Around Bakhmut, the defenders of Ukraine are resisting up to 20 enemy attacks daily, the enemy is constantly attacking our army’s positions under the support of artillery fire.
“In order to concentrate artillery fire around Bakhmut, the enemy has deliberately reduced the number of attacks on our army’s positions in the Kherson and Zaporizhzhia directions in recent weeks, with ammunition being transferred. to the Bakhmut and Lyman directions.”
Lyman is another settlement in Donetsk liberated by Ukrainian forces at the end of September.
More than 40% of enemy artillery attacks along the line of contact from Kupyansk to Mariinka were in the direction of Bakhmut.
Other advancements: Hromov said Ukrainian forces had made gradual progress towards the city of Kreminna in the eastern region of Luhansk. The city fell to the Russians in the spring.
Hromov said Ukrainian units advanced 2.5 kilometers (more than a mile) in the direction of Kreminna this week. According to Ukrainian officials, the area has been heavily exploited by the Russians.
Hromov also stated that Russia is starting to prepare defensive lines around the city of Luhansk “in case the Ukrainian Self-Defense Forces cross the defensive border of the Russian occupation forces on the Svatove-Kreminna line and accordingly , get closer” to the boundary. acreage.
Hromov said that after Russia partially mobilized, trained units continued to be transferred to the occupied territories of Ukraine. He said that in the southern region of Zaporizhzhia, units of the Russian territorial reserve were deployed.
“We are monitoring the movements of enemy units. Currently, there is no significant threat of the group’s attack in the Zaporizhzhia area.”
