Russian forces were able to take control of several towns and villages in eastern Ukraine on Wednesday as their offensive in the Donbas region escalates.
The Ukrainian military acknowledged the loss of territory in an operational update released on Wednesday. In the north, the village of Zavody and the northeastern outskirts of the settlement of Velyka Komyshuvakha were lost to Russian forces. In the east, the Russian military has taken control of the town of Zarichne and the settlement of Novotoshkivske. Russian forces are trying to consolidate a land bridge to Crimea and occupy Ukrainian coastal regions. Despite the losses, the update contended nine Russian assaults were repelled and that the Ukrainians inflicted heavy damage to the invading side.
“The greatest activity of Russian occupying forces is observed in the Slobozhansky and Donetsk directions,” the General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces said on Wednesday.
It claimed that seven Russian air targets, including a Su-25 fighter jet, a Ka-52 helicopter, three drones, and two cruise missiles, were destroyed in recent fighting.
UKRAINE DECAPITATES RUSSIAN ‘FRIENDSHIP’ STATUE IN KYIV
Nine Russian attacks were repulsed in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, according to the Ukrainian military, destroying nine tanks, 11 artillery systems, 17 armored vehicles, and several other pieces of military hardware.
Ukraine is fighting Russian forces along three fronts in the Donbas region — from the north, the south, and the east. The Ukrainian military said Russia is replenishing and resupplying forces in Ukraine from Russia’s Belgorod region.
“In order to increase the grouping of troops, Russian occupiers transferred from the territory of the Belgorod region to the city of Izyum two battalion tactical groups from the 76th Airborne Assault Division of the Russian Airborne Forces,” the operational update said. “In addition, in the areas of settlements of the Belgorod region, Russian enemy deployed two missile divisions of ‘Iskander-M’ (SS-26 Stone) mobile short range ballistic missile system.”
The Ukrainian military said the transportation of military equipment into Ukrainian territory is “usually carried out by rail.”
Satellite images taken on Monday appear to show Russian tanks and vehicles mobilized in Belgorod, about 15 miles from Ukraine’s border.
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A Russian ammunition depot in Belgorod burst into flames on Wednesday after explosions were heard in the region, suggesting it may have been hit by Ukrainian forces. The Ukrainian military has not claimed responsibility for the fire, and Russia has not provided an explanation for it.
The Kremlin’s goal in its Donbas offensive is completely “liberating” the Luhansk and Donetsk regions from Ukraine and creating a land bridge in eastern Ukraine to Russian-controlled Crimea.
