Eastern Ukraine faces record levels of shelling, says military official
Fragment of a rocket after a Russian shelling in Bakhmut, Ukraine, on February 10. (Photo: Marek M. Berezowski/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images)
Russia has “broken records” for shelling, hitting Ukraine with artillery fire in the east of the country, a military spokesman said during an interview on Ukrainian television on Sunday.
“For many days in a row, the enemy has been breaking records by hitting Ukraine with artillery fire in the Lyman direction and in the Luhansk region,” said Serhii Cherevatyi of the Eastern Grouping of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. “In the last 24 hours, there have been 424 bombardments with different types of artillery and 23 combats,” he added.
According to the Cherevatyi, the main direction of the enemy attack is still the Bakhmut section of the front line.
“There, the enemy attacked 167 times along the entire section of the front with various types of rocket-propelled artillery, and 41 clashes between forces took place. The enemy lost 212 soldiers and 315 were wounded,” it added.
CNN cannot independently confirm the number of casualties suffered.
“In the Bakhmut area itself there were 48 attacks and 19 clashes between the forces,” it said. He added that “fights were also fought in the area of Torske, Fedorivka, Ivanivske and Chasiv Yar.”
Asked if the Russians are trying to wear down the Ukrainian troops, Cherevatyi expressed his belief that, on the contrary, “the defense forces of eastern Ukraine are wearing down the enemy so that he cannot carry out large-scale offensive operations.” “.
“Right now, the defenders of eastern Ukraine are doing something incredible – they are exhausting the enemy and causing him losses in manpower and equipment, which is definitely reflected both in the quality of the enemy’s conduct of hostilities and on his moral and psychological state,” Cherevatyi said.
He also reported that currently “army reserves are being prepared to deal a decisive blow to the enemy and drive him away from the territory of Ukraine under the supervision of the commander-in-chief of Ukraine and the chief of the General Staff.”
“Using, of course, the help of our partners in the free world,” Cherevatyi added.