“The enemy knows Ukraine will win. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Monday praised the territorial gains claimed by his troops near Bakhmout in the east of the country, ironically over the “hysterical” reaction of Moscow which claimed to have repelled large-scale attacks. “We see how hysterically Russia reacts to all the advances we make in this sector, to all the positions we take. The enemy knows Ukraine will win,” Volodymyr Zelensky said in a video message.
The Bakhmout sector remains the epicenter of hostilities. This Monday, Ukraine confirmed that it was carrying out “offensive actions” in certain sectors of the front, thus claiming gains near the devastated city of Bakhmout. At the same time, Ukraine downplayed the scale of those attacks which Moscow claimed to have repelled.
“[Ukraine’s] defensive operation includes counter-offensive actions. Therefore, in some sectors we are carrying out offensive actions,” Ukrainian Deputy Defense Minister Ganna Maliar said on Telegram. “We are advancing there on a fairly broad front. We achieve successes and occupy the commanding heights. The enemy is on the defensive,” she added.
Russia, for its part, claimed to have repelled major offensives in eastern and southern Ukraine, claiming to have inflicted heavy human and material losses on the Ukrainians. The Russian paramilitary group Wagner had claimed in May the conquest of the city of Bakhmout after the longest and deadliest battle of the war. Its boss, Evgueni Prigojine, confirmed on Monday that Ukrainian forces had taken over part of the town of Berkhivka, located north of Bakhmout.
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