Russia said on Wednesday that its troops had breached two strong lines of Ukrainian defense on the eastern front, as Kiev described the situation there as difficult and called for swift military aid ahead of an anticipated Russian offensive.
The Russian Defense Ministry said Ukrainians had retreated in the face of Russian attacks in the Luhansk region, although it gave no details and Reuters was not able to independently verify the battlefield report.
“During the offensive … Ukrainian troops randomly retreated to a distance of 3 km (1.9 mi) from previously occupied lines,” the ministry said on the Telegram messaging app.
“Even the stronger second line of defense of the enemy could not prevent the success of the Russian army.”
The ministry did not specify in which part of the Luhansk region the attack occurred. Reuters was not able to independently verify reports from the battlefield.
President Volodymyr Zelensky’s office said Ukrainian forces had repelled some Russian attacks in Luhansk, but added: “The situation in the region remains difficult.”
Serhiy Haidai, Luhansk’s regional governor, said Russia was pouring heavy equipment and mobilizing troops into Luhansk but Ukrainian forces were still defending the area.
“The attacks are coming from different directions in waves,” Haidai said. ,
The Kremlin has stepped up attacks on large parts of southern and eastern Ukraine in recent weeks, and a major new offensive has been widely feared.
Russia’s main effort has been focused on the city of Bakhmut in Donetsk province, adjacent to Luhansk.
The General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces did not mention any significant tremors in Luhansk in its regular morning update. It added that Ukrainian units repelled attacks in the areas of more than 20 settlements, including Bakhmut and Vuhledar, 150 km (90 mi) southwest of Bakhmut.
Zelensky said on Tuesday that Russia was in a hurry to get as much as it could before Ukraine and its allies grew in power.
“That’s why speed is of the essence,” he said as NATO defense chiefs met in Brussels for talks that continued on Wednesday.
The capture of Bakhmut would give Russia a step to advance on two major cities, Kramatorsk in Donetsk and Sloviansk, giving it momentum after months of setbacks ahead of the February 24 first anniversary of the invasion.
“The fight is literally for every foot of Ukrainian land,” Zelensky described the conditions on the Eastern Front in his evening address on Tuesday.
Ukrainian military analyst Oleh Zhdanov said in a YouTube video that fighting was going on “around every single house” in Bakhmut.
western support
Ukraine is using shells faster than the West and says it needs fighter jets and long-range missiles to counter the Russian offensive and regain lost territory.
The United States and NATO have pledged that Western support will not weaken in the face of Russian aggression.
US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said on Tuesday that he expected Ukraine to launch its invasion in the spring. He added: “There is an urgent need to help Ukraine meet this critical moment in the course of the war. We believe there will be a window of opportunity for them to take the initiative.”
On January 20, a senior US administration official said that Washington is advising Ukraine to hold off on a major offensive until the latest US arms supplies and training are provided.
Representatives of 27 European Union countries meet in Brussels on Wednesday to discuss a new batch of sanctions against Russia, which the bloc’s executive chiefs said would cost 11 billion euros ($11.8 billion) in lost business. The amount can be
German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said that supplying Ukraine with fighter jets would certainly be discussed, but it was not the focus at the moment, and added that he was in favor of increasing NATO’s military spending targets. British Defense Secretary Ben Wallace said Western allies could help Ukraine more quickly by supporting its positions on the ground rather than focusing on the provision of jets.
Russia calls the invasion a “special military operation” against security threats, and says NATO shows daily hostility toward Russia and is getting more involved in the conflict. Kiev and its allies call Russia’s actions an unprovoked land grab.
Russia has the southern regions of Ukraine’s Kherson and Zaporizhia, including its nuclear plant, almost all of Luhansk and more than half of Donetsk. Last year, Russia announced it had annexed four territories in a move condemned as illegal by most UN members.
Russia plans to take back settlements in the northeastern Kharkiv region that it handed over to Kiev last year, the head of the Russian-established administration there said on Wednesday.
A US-backed report published Tuesday said Russia held at least 6,000 Ukrainian children – possibly many more – in camps in Crimea and Russia, the primary purpose of which appears to be political re-education. Russia’s embassy in Washington said Russia accepted children who were forced to flee with their families by shelling in Ukraine.
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(This story has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from a syndicated news agency feed)