Monitoring Desk
MOSCOW: Russia said on Wednesday that its troops had broken through two fortified lines of Ukrainian defences on the eastern front. Kyiv described the situation as challenging and demanded faster military aid ahead of the Russian offensive.
The Russian Defence Ministry said the Ukrainian forces had retreated in the face of Russian attacks in Luhansk city, although it provided no details.
“During the offensive, the Ukrainian forces randomly retreated to a distance of up to 3km from the previously occupied lines,” the Russian ministry said on Telegram.
“Even the more strong second line of defence of Ukraine could not hold the breakthrough of the Russian military.”
President Volodymyr Zelensky’s office said Ukrainian forces had repelled some Russian attacks in Luhansk region but added: “The situation in the region remains complicated.”
Luhansk governor Serhiy Haidai said Russia was pouring heavy equipment and mobilized troops into Luhansk, but Ukrainian troops were still defending the region.
“The Russian attacks are coming from different directions in waves,” he said. “Those who spread the information that our defense forces allegedly pulled back beyond the line of the administrative border (of Luhansk) – this does not correspond to reality.”
In recent weeks, the Kremlin has intensified attacks across a swathe of southern and eastern Ukraine, and a major new offensive has been widely anticipated.
Kyiv seeking more Western aid to repel Russian offensives
Russia’s key effort has been focused on the town of Bakhmut in Donetsk province adjacent to Luhansk.
In its regular morning update, the Ukrainian Armed Forces General Staff did not mention any significant setbacks in the Luhansk region. It said Ukrainian forces repelled attacks in the areas of more than 20 settlements, including Bakhmut and Vuhledar, a town 150km southwest of Bakhmut.
On Tuesday, Zelensky said Russia was in a hurry to achieve as much as it could with its latest push before Ukraine and its allies gain strength.
“That is why speed is needed,” Zelensky said as Nato defence chiefs met in Brussels for talks that continue on Wednesday. “Speed is everything – adopting decisions, carrying out decisions, shipping supplies, training. Speed saves people’s lives.”
NATO and the United States (US) have pledged that Western aid will not falter in the face of a looming Russian offensive.
Representatives of the 27 European Union nations meet in Brussels on Wednesday to discuss new sanctions against Russia, which could amount to €11 billion (S$15.7 billion) in lost trade.
On Wednesday, Nato Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said that member states needed to invest more in defence, adding that member states should commit to spending a minimum of 2 percent of gross domestic product on defence.
