Russian forces have destroyed Ukraine’s defenses in parts of the Donetsk oblast, it has been reported, as a map shows the state of play along the frontline.
Russia has been increasing its gains towards the Donetsk logistics hub of Pokrovsk which is central to its goal of taking the whole region. These advances have led to the dismissal of the commander of Ukraine’s Donetsk Joint Task Force, Oleksandr Lutsenko, Reuters reported.
Ukraine’s Khortytsia Operational Strategic Group of Forces fighting in that part of the wider Donbas region added to the downbeat assessment of Kyiv’s fortunes in Donetsk by saying that Russian assaults on fortifications in some places had made it impossible to hold them further.
The group fighting for Kyiv said on Telegram that Russian forces had retreated after unsuccessfully trying to improve their tactical positions around the villages of Blahodatne and Yelyzavetivka.
Russia carried out assault operations south of Storozheve, Sukhi Yaly, Kostiantynopil, and Veselyi Hai and “as a result of fire damage, fortifications in some positions were destroyed, which made it impossible to hold them further,” the statement said, according to a translation.
“As a result of exhausting clashes, the enemy improved the tactical position in the area of Pushkino, Pishchane, as well as to the west and east of the settlement of Shevchenko,” said the post, next to a map that showed the hotspots of the entire frontline.
“Currently, units of our troops are taking measures to restore the tactical positions,” the post added. Newsweek has contacted the Russian Defense Ministry for comment by email.
As fierce fighting continues in the Ukrainian region where Russian troops are making marginal gains, a map by the Washington D.C.-based think tank Institute for the Study of War (ISW) showed the developments on this part of the frontline.
These included Russian seizures of Novotroitske and Zorya on Thursday as well as Moscow’s advances that day in southwestern Kurakhove, Shevchenko, and four villages further south that Ukrainian forces no longer have control of.
Meanwhile, analysts from the Ukrainian Telegram open-source intelligence channel DeepState updated its map to show that Russia is occupying another five villages in Donetsk located around Uspenivka.
Mykola Koval, head of the press service for the 14th Chervona Kalyna Brigade of Ukraine’s National Guard, struck a more optimistic tone, telling Ukrainian television on Thursday that Russian forces had suffered heavy losses in their bid to break through from the left or the right flank.
“We are holding the enemy back as much as possible because Pokrovsk is a strategically important city,” he said, according to Ukrainska Pravda.
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