Kiev has waged a major campaign to drive Russian forces out of southeastern Ukraine as part of a counteroffensive that began several weeks ago, and has dedicated thousands of troops to the battle in the country’s southeast, according to Ukrainian and Western analysts and officials.
The surge in troops and firepower has been focused on the southeastern region of Zaporizhia, a Western official said late Wednesday. The official was not authorized to comment on the matter and spoke on condition of anonymity.
Fighting has intensified in recent weeks at various points along the 1,500-kilometer (930-mile) frontline as Ukraine deployed advanced Western-supplied weapons and Western-trained troops to entrenched Russian forces that invaded the country 17 months ago. .
The counter-offensive is a huge military operation that was probably months in the making. Military logistics requires sending supplies of ammunition, food, medical supplies and spare parts to the front. The operation faces a fierce Russian defense that includes minefields, trenches and anti-tank obstacles.
Ukrainian authorities have been mostly silent on events on the battlefield since they began their counteroffensive, although Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar said troops were advancing on the city of Melitopol in the Zaporizhia region.
While that move could be a tactical feint and the two governments have used misinformation to gain a battlefield advantage, such a move would fit with analysts’ predictions.
Experts expected a counter-offensive that would try to break through the land corridor between Russia and the Russian-annexed Crimean peninsula in the direction of Melitopol, which is near the Azov Sea coast. That could split the Russian forces and cut off the supply routes of units further west. Russia now controls the entire coast of the Azov Sea.
There was intense fighting in areas in the south and east of Ukraine, far from the capital kyiv, and it was not possible to verify the claims of either side.
The Institute for the Study of War, a Washington-based think tank, said Ukrainian forces had launched “a significant mechanized counteroffensive operation in the western Zaporizhia region” on Wednesday, and that they “appear to have broken through some positions Russian defensives prepared in advance”. The center cited Russian sources, including the Russian Defense Ministry and several prominent Russian military bloggers.
But the Moscow-appointed official to head the partially occupied Zaporizhia region, Yevgeny Balitsky, said Ukrainian forces had unsuccessfully tried to break through Russian defenses in the area on Thursday morning. kyiv’s forces “suffered significant losses and withdrew to (their) positions,” Balitsky claimed.
However, in what appeared to be a preventative measure, Russia’s Federal Security Service banned civilian access to Crimea’s Arabat Point, a narrow strip of land connecting the annexed peninsula with the partially occupied Kherson region. Kherson is a key gateway to Crimea. The indefinite ban is necessary to contain security threats, the FSB said in a statement quoted by the Russian news agency RIA Novosti.
US officials, who have provided Kiev with weapons and information, declined to comment on the latest developments, though in the past they have called for patience as Ukraine tries to make a dent in the Russian positions.
Russian President Vladimir Putin confirmed Thursday that Ukraine launched a more intense attack on the southern province of Zaporizhia. He assured that kyiv has lost more than 200 soldiers during the attack, while Russian troops suffered “ten times fewer” casualties when repelling it, according to statements by the Russian head of state on public television.
The Russian president pointed out that the enemy used “a large number of armored vehicles”, around fifty, of which 39, including 26 tanks, would have been destroyed.
Russia stopped the Ukrainian offensive to the north of the town of Robotyne, in Zaporizhia and less than 20 kilometers from Oríjiv, where according to the ISW Ukraine would have launched its “mechanized offensive”, according to the spokesman for the Russian Ministry of Defense, Igor Konashénkov.
Ukraine has not denied or confirmed this information for the moment.
In his last address to the nation, the Ukrainian president, Volodímir Zelenski, last night congratulated his troops for the “very good results” obtained during the past day at the front. Zelenski did not provide further information on the matter and promised that the details would be known soon.
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