The Ongoing War between Ukraine and Russia: Updates on Ukrainian Counter-Offensive and Territory Gains

2023-07-24 19:44:50
War between Ukraine and RussiafileThe Ukrainian Deputy Minister of Defense welcomed on Monday July 24 the advances in the south and east of the country, where the Ukrainian army has been trying for two months to break through Russian defences.

The statements of Vladimir Putin, according to which the Ukrainian counter-offensive has “failed”, seem once once more to be contradicted by the ground. Kyiv claimed on Monday July 24 to have taken over more than 16 km² from Russian forces last week in the east and south of the country. In mid-July, Ukraine had reported 14 km² recaptured in one week in the same areas, bringing to 193 km² the territorial gains made two months following the start of a counter-offensive supposed to push Moscow’s troops out of Ukraine.

“During the week […], in the Bakhmout sector, 4 km² have been liberated” and “12.6 km² in the South”, Ukrainian Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar said on Ukrainian television on Monday. The official welcomed these “success” in the two areas where the Ukrainian army has been trying to break through Russian defenses for several weeks.

Since the start of the counter-offensive which began in early June, Kyiv forces have “liberated” 35 km² in the Bakhmout area (east) and 192.1 km² in the south, added the deputy minister. She also said that last week, the Russian army had “conducted assaults aimed at pushing our units back beyond the Oskil River and searching for weak points in our defense” towards Kupyansk (northeast).

In recent days, the Russian army has claimed to have advanced slightly in this area, claiming in particular to have taken control of a railway station.

“A very difficult fight”

On Sunday, in Saint Petersburg, while receiving his Belarusian counterpart and ally Alexander Lukashenko, Russian President Vladimir Putin judged that the Ukrainian counter-offensive “has failed”.

The same day, the American Secretary of State Antony Blinken however went in the direction of his Ukrainian allies. “Ukraine has already taken back around 50% of what was initially seized” by Russia as part of its offensive, launched on February 24, 2022, Antony Blinken argued in an interview with CNN. But he did not fail to recall that the armed forces were facing “a very difficult fight”. “It will not play out for the next two weeks. We are still considering it to take several months,” he added.

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