KYIV — Ukrainian special forces have halted a Russian advance in the southeastern Ukrainian region of Zaporizhzhia, Kyiv officials said Saturday — the latest military success in recent weeks amid Moscow’s ongoing aerial bombardment of Ukrainian cities.
The operation “stopped the enemy’s approach” on the regional capital, the city of Zaporizhzhia, according to Ukraine’s main military intelligence directorate, known as the GUR.
The GUR statement, posted on social media, could not be independently verified, but corresponded with a slew of upbeat news for Ukraine from the front line in recent days. It also underscored the cutting-edge effectiveness of Ukraine’s weapons systems, such as anti-drone interceptors, which are now actively sought by the Trump administration for its operations in the Middle East.
Zaporizhzhia is a major urban center and longtime target of Russian forces, as they attempt to conquer the entire region. Moscow’s troops are now about 15 miles from the outskirts of the city, according to the online maps published by Deep State, an open-source military website.
“For three months, soldiers of the ‘Timur Special Unit’ … have been conducting a comprehensive defensive operation” on the Zaporizhzhia section of the front, GUR said in its statement, adding that its forces had killed or seriously injured more than 300 Russians and captured 39 servicemen.
“With precise drone and artillery strikes, military intelligence operatives systematically limit the logistical capabilities of the Russians — due to a lack of supplies, the occupiers are increasingly abandoning assault operations,” GUR said.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and other top officials said that Ukrainian forces are clawing back territory on other parts of the front, as the full-scale war with Russia passes its four-year mark.
Kyiv’s troops have recaptured close to 200 square miles since the beginning of the year, Zelensky said in an interview published Tuesday in the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera, while Moscow is losing up to 35,000 soldiers a month to deaths and injuries.
On Thursday, as swarms of Iranian drones struck targets across the Middle East, including U.S. military bases, Zelensky said in a social media post that Ukraine had “received a request from the United States for specific support in protection” against Tehran’s attack drone systems.
Although it was unclear how much anti-drone assistance Kyiv could spare from its own defenses, it was nevertheless a moment of recognition for Ukraine’s military industry, which was almost nonexistent when Russian invaded in February 2022.
Ukraine’s military production has had to adapt at rapid speed to innovations on the battlefield and changes in Russia’s strategy — such as a relentless aerial campaign against Ukrainian cities and infrastructure this winter, using waves of drones and missiles to overwhelm air defenses.
On Friday, Russian forces launched yet another attack, targeting locations throughout the country using some 480 drones and 29 missiles — of which 453 drones and 19 missiles were shot down or intercepted, Ukraine’s air force said in a social media post. That count also could not be independently verified.
In Zaporizhzhia, drones damaged an apartment building and injured a 3-month-old girl, Ivan Fedorov, the head of the Zaporizhzhia’s regional military administration, posted on social media. The child’s injuries were “moderate” and she remained under medical supervision, Fedorov said.
In the eastern city of Kharkiv, a ballistic missile destroyed a section of a residential building, killing 11 people and injuring 16, local officials said. Among the dead were a 13-year-old girl and a 9-year-old boy.
Stern reported from Mukachevo, Ukraine.
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