2023-09-03 07:34:00
Ukraine focuses on consolidating battlefield gains as US, Zelensky discuss counteroffensive
Ukrainian military prepare to fire on Russian positions near Bakhmut, Ukraine, on August 14. Credit: Roman Chop/Global Images Ukraine/Getty Images
“Consolidation” remained the motto of the Ukrainian Armed Forces on Saturday after recent modest gains in the southern Zaporizhia region, as political figures in Kyiv as well as US officials rejected suggestions the Ukrainian counter-offensive was progressing too slowly.
“Ukrainian Defense Forces continue to execute the offensive operation on (the) Melitopol axis, consolidating their positions and conducting counter-battery fire,” the army General Staff wrote in a Saturday update on Facebook. Melitopol is located south of the city of Zaporizhia.
Ukraine has focused its efforts around the village of Robotyne in recent weeks as it tries to push south toward occupied cities on or near the Azov Sea coast.
An unofficial Telegram channel belonging to the Ukrainian 46th Brigade suggested that further limited Ukrainian advances had occurred southeast of Robotyne, posting: “There is an extension of the bridgehead along the enemy defense line in the direction of Verbove. The area of control is extended for future actions.”
The channel also reported fighting on high ground outside the neighboring village of Novoprokopivka.
What Russia says: Russia’s Defense Ministry said on Saturday it had repelled four Ukrainian strikes in the area around Robotyne and Verbove. Russian military blogging site Rybar indicated that Russian forces had put up heavy resistance around the Verbove settlement. He said that Robotyne was now fully under Ukrainian control, although he claimed that the Kyiv forces had suffered heavy losses in the fighting.
CNN cannot immediately verify the claims of either side on the battlefield.
Responding to concerns about the counteroffensive: Ukraine’s current counter-offensive against the Russian occupying forces has been underway for three months and there has been growing concern that it is not achieving the expected results.
John Kirby, the White House National Security Council strategic communications coordinator, addressed those concerns Friday, saying Ukrainian forces had made “remarkable progress” in the previous three days, scoring “some successes against (the) second line.” of Russian defenses.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky expanded on those comments, posting on Saturday:
“No matter what they say, we are moving forward and that is the most important thing. We are on the move.”
In an interview with CNN’s Christiane Amanpour in Kyiv on Friday, Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba also said that Ukraine is “not failing” but “advancing” in its counter-offensive.
The foreign minister added that those who criticize the speed of Ukraine’s counteroffensive should consider the soldiers fighting at the center of it.
“You just lost two of your friends. They almost killed you. You crawled a mile upside down clearing the field. You sacrificed yourself: you took the bloody Russian trench in a fierce fight. And then you read someone saying, ‘Oh guys, are you too slow?’” he stated.
“Our partners who help us, including the United States, understand that things are going in the right direction,” he added.
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