“Ours […] units today completely liberated the settlement of Marjinka,” Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu told V. Putin during a meeting broadcast on state television.
Television showed drone footage of the ruins and burnt-out apartment buildings, said to be from Marjinka.
“I want to congratulate you. This is a success,” V. Putin told the minister. According to him, this gives the Russian military “an opportunity to move to a wider area of operations.”
S. Shoigu said that by controlling Marjinka, Russian forces will be able to “go further in this direction” and more effectively protect Donetsk from strikes by Ukrainian forces.
However, Oleksandr Stupun, a spokesman for the Ukrainian military, said that it is incorrect to say that Marjinka is completely under the control of Russian forces.
“The fighting for Marjinka continues,” he said, pointing out that there are still Ukrainian soldiers in the territory of the Marjinka district.
“The city is completely destroyed,” added O. Štupunas.
It is impossible to independently confirm the reports of both parties.
The Ukrainian counteroffensive launched along the front in southern and eastern Ukraine in June has been largely suppressed, and Russian forces have been increasing the pressure in recent weeks.
In early December, British intelligence announced that Russian forces had advanced into the ruined Marinka and probably controlled most of the part of the city that had been built up, but Ukrainian forces were still defending patches of territory on the western edge of the city.
The report also said that since 2014, Marjinka, located on the front line, where 9 thousand people lived before the war. people, is ruined.
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2024-07-23 00:13:58
