Ukraine’s military leader admitted Kyiv’s position on the battlefield had worsened, following Russian troops captured another village in the east. The Russians strengthened their superiority in personnel and ammunition.
Russian troops are advancing in the eastern Donetsk region, as Kyiv awaits the arrival of badly needed US weapons it hopes will stabilize its fragile front lines.
“The situation on the front has deteriorated,” Ukraine’s commander-in-chief, Oleksandr Syrsky, said in a Facebook post on Sunday.
Ukrainian troops have “retreated” westward to a new defensive line on a section of the front running through the city of Donetsk, which has been held by pro-Russian forces since 2014.
Russia has “significant superiority in forces and means” and has managed to make progress amid “fierce fighting”, Syrsky said.
“In some sectors, the enemy achieved tactical successes, and in some areas, our forces succeeded in improving tactical positions,” he added.
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Russia’s defense ministry earlier on Sunday claimed its troops had captured the village of Novobakhmutivka in the Donetsk region – regarding 10 kilometers (six miles) north of Avdiivka, which they captured in February.
The sharp assessment of the picture facing the Ukrainian side comes at the end of a week full of ups and downs for Kyiv.
The United States finally agreed to a US$61 billion financial aid package following months of political wrangling, unlocking much-needed weapons for Ukraine’s strained forces.
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But on the battlefield, Russia recorded more success.
His troops managed to make rapid progress in a narrow column northwest of Avdiivka.
In the village of Vozdvyzhenka, regarding eight kilometers from the fighting in Ocheretyne, AFP reporters saw civilians loading small trucks with furniture and goods on Sunday.
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“We are going far from here… I didn’t have time to talk because of the artillery fire,” one of them told AFP, before getting into a vehicle and leaving the village quickly.
Soldiers on the side of the road in the forest said they were initially sent to build a defense line.
“But the situation has changed. We were asked not to bring shovels but to stay and wait for orders. The Russians attacked and advanced,” one of them told AFP, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Syrsky confirmed on Sunday that Russia had made some “tactical” progress on that front, but said Moscow had not yet achieved what he called “operational advantages.”
He also said additional units were being deployed to replace those that had suffered heavy losses.
The latest hurdle has drawn rare criticism from Ukrainian military bloggers.
“The (Russian) breakthrough near Ocheretyne exposed a number of problems,” a Deep State channel on Telegram, with close links to the Ukrainian army, said in a post on Wednesday.
He said the leader of the 115th mechanized brigade, which was fighting in the area, “was responsible for the collapse of defenses across the sector, which caused significant losses”.
Kyiv’s troops are outnumbered on the battlefield, with the country struggling to recruit enough soldiers to replace those killed, wounded or exhausted by the war, which is in its third year.
Leaders in Kyiv have warned that the military outlook might worsen in the coming weeks, while US arms shipments are on their way to the front lines.
“We are still waiting for the promised supplies for Ukraine,” President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a speech late on Sunday.
Speaking following meeting with Hakeem Jeffries, the Democratic leader in the US House of Representatives, he said he once once more emphasized the urgent need for a Patriot anti-missile system “as soon as possible”.
The head of Ukrainian intelligence at the defense ministry, Kyrylo Budanov, said this month that the situation on the battlefield would likely become most difficult in mid-May to early June. (AFP/Z-3)
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