KYIV, Ukraine: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Monday that his troops were facing complicated fighting along sections of the sprawling front line as delays in Western military aid is impacting his army.
Russian forces are back on the offensive in southern and eastern Ukraine, and captured Avdiivka in the eastern Donetsk region, securing their first major gain since taking Bakhmut in May last year.
“The situation is extremely difficult in several parts of the front line, where Russian troops have concentrated maximum reserves,” said Zelensky while returning from a trip to brigades around the northeastern city of Kupiansk, in the frontline Kharkiv region.
Russian troops “are taking advantage of the delays in helping Ukraine,” Zelensky said further. He continued his country faced artillery shortages and needed frontline air defence capabilities as well as longer-range weapons.
Earlier in the day, Ukrainian army said they were facing “heavy fire” from advancing Moscow forces in the southern region of Zaporozhye.
A senior Ukrainian commander, Oleksandr Tarnavskyi, said Russia was launching several attacks near the village of Robotyne – one of the few places where Ukraine managed to regain ground during counter-offensive in 2023.
Russia sought to advance with small attack groups involving several units of armored vehicles, Tarnavskyi, who commands Ukrainian forces in the area, said in a post on Telegram.
Reports from Russian military bloggers had earlier said that Moscow forces were on the southern edge of the village.
“The situation here is dynamic, the enemy is causing heavy fire,” spokesman Dmytro Lykhoviy said on Tarnavsky state television earlier Monday.
Like many settlements in eastern Ukraine, village of Robotyne was completely razed to the ground by a month of artillery fire.
Ukraine’s defences have been stretched by ammunition and manpower shortages in recent weeks.
Lykhoviy said the Russians were “regrouping” after Ukraine withdrew from Avdiivka and “probably moving troops to other sectors”.
President Putin has hailed the capture of Avdiivka as an “important victory” for his troops, just days before the second anniversary of the Russian invasion on February 24.
