Almost 1.7 kilometers in a week. The Ukrainian army claims a progression towards Melitopol, in the southern zone of the front, as part of its counter-offensive. The announcement was made on Friday by a senior Ukrainian official.
The Ukrainian armed forces “continue to carry out offensive operations” in the direction of Melitopol, a major Ukrainian city under Russian control, and “the assault brigades supported by tanks have advanced 1.7 km” in a week in this area, specified during a briefing this spokesman, Colonel Mykola Ourchalovitch.
Mykola Urchalovich, a representative of the National Guard of Ukraine, clarified that around Kherson, “the defense forces will continue to pressure the enemy” through reconnaissance and combat operations to “prepare the area for ‘offensive actions’.
In eastern Ukraine, he said “National Guard units are preparing a beachhead to expand their offensive in the direction of Avdiivka”, where fighting has been reported recently. Controlled by Ukraine, Avdiivka is a town of around 30,000 inhabitants almost adjoining Donetsk, the regional capital under Russian control.
The head of the Ukrainian presidency, Andryi Yermak, also admitted on Friday that kyiv’s counter-offensive facing resistance from Russian forces “is not moving so fast”.
“Today it is not moving so fast,” Andryi Yermak told a small media group, including AFP, while assuring that his Western allies were not putting pressure on Kiev over this.
He said that Ukraine will not negotiate with Russia as long as Moscow’s troops are on Ukrainian territory. “Even thinking about these negotiations is only possible after Russian troops leave our territory,” Andryi Yermak said. “Everyone understands that we are not going to talk to the Russians” before that, he added.