KYIV: A senior Ukrainian defence official said on Friday that Ukraine’s troops have stopped a Russian offensive towards the cities of Lyman and Kupiansk in the east, and armed forces are advancing in the south of the country.
Ukraine Claims It Advances in South, Stops Russians in East
Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar said that they had very fierce fights in the Kupiansk and Lyman, but their troops halted “the enemy there,”. Ukraine is in the early phases of its most ambitious counterattack since Moscow’s full-scale attack in February 2022 and adds it has retaken 8 villages, its first considerable gains on the battleground for seven months.
But Moscow still holds swathes of territory in Ukraine, and Ukrainian troops have yet to push to the key defensive lines that Moscow has had months to prepare.
Maliar said that Russian forces still aimed to take control of the entire Donetsk and Luhansk regions in eastern parts of Ukraine.
Ukraine’s army operation in the south was going as per plan, and its troops were advancing, even if minefields were slowing them down, Maliar said. ” Our troops are advancing steadily every day”, the defense official added. However, Reuters reported that it was unable to verify the situation on the ground.
