2023-07-10 12:37:00
War between Ukraine and Russia dossierThe Ukrainian army claims this Monday, July 10 advances in the east and south of the country. She is gradually starting the solid Russian defense since the beginning of her reconquest operation at the beginning of June.
Gradually, the Ukrainian soldiers are gaining ground. Kyiv forces claim this Monday, July 10 to have taken over 14 square kilometers of land for a week in the east and south of the country, as part of the Ukrainian counter-offensive which began in early June. “More than 10 km² of Ukrainian land was liberated in southern Ukraine last week,” army spokesman Andrii Kovaliov said in an interview on Ukrainian television this morning. He also added that 4 km² were also freed “in the Bakhmout sector”, in the east of the country.
“Our troops have taken control of key heights around Bakhmout,” Deputy Defense Minister Ganna Maliar announced Monday followingnoon, adding that this has allowed Ukrainian soldiers to control for several days ” entries, exits and movements of the enemy in the city”. A success that allows the army of Kyiv to threaten the Russian troops in the city, while Ukraine continues its counter-offensive in difficult conditions.
These advances bring to 193 km² the total area taken over by Ukraine since the launch of its counter-offensive regarding a month ago. According to Andrii Kovaliov, the Ukrainian army has in fact taken over “169 km² in the sectors of Melitopol and Berdyansk”, the two main towns in southern Ukraine currently under Russian control, and 24 km² in the sector of Bakhmout, a city recently captured by Moscow following a long and extremely deadly siege.
“Ukrainian soldiers entrench themselves on the lines reached, inflict artillery damage on identified enemy targets. The enemy resists, transfers units, actively uses its reserves. Intense fighting is taking place” around Bakhmout, Kovaliov added.
Ukraine asks for more artillery and fighter jets
According to President Volodymyr Zelensky, the counter-offensive is progressing slowly once morest the Russian forces, entrenched behind powerful defensive lines, dug and put in place for many months.
On the reinforcement side, on Friday July 7, Kyiv nevertheless obtained from the United States the controversial delivery of cluster bombs, weapons banned in many countries for nearly fifteen years. These weapons might in particular help to destroy the innumerable mines that the Russians have buried on the way to the Ukrainian advance.
This new assessment of the counter-offensive comes as Volodymyr Zelensky is expected Tuesday in Vilnius, Lithuania, to attend a NATO summit. For weeks, Ukraine has been calling for more long-range artillery and the delivery of Western-built F-16 fighter jets, which might help break the Russian stranglehold more quickly.
Update: 2:36 p.m., with the addition of Ukraine capturing points near Bakhmout.
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