Russia claims new advances in eastern Ukraine

MOSCOW: Russia said Tuesday that its troops had made gains in eastern Ukraine, building on recent advances against Ukrainian forces in critical need of Western aid.

Facing a difficult situation on the front lines, Kyiv has responded with an increasing number of incursions and attacks on Russian territory bordering Ukraine.

Some of the incursions have been carried out by Russians volunteering to fight in proUkrainian units, which Putin has called to ‘punish’.

“On the Avdiivka front, units of the ‘Centre’ grouping of troops liberated the village of Orlivka,” the Russian defence ministry said.

It is the latest in a string of gains for Moscow, which has built on the capture of Avdiivka a month ago.

Avdiivka’s seizure had forced Ukrainian troops to withdraw to defensive lines along Tonenke, Berdychi and Orlivka.

The Ukrainian army has not addressed the potential seizure of Orlivka.

But Kyiv has acknowledged

a difficult situation on the battlefield and urged the West to keep up and deliver on its promises of support.

European deliveries have fallen behind, and its industrial capacities remain limited.

Kyiv has urged the US Congress to unblock a US$60 billion aid package, which has been stalled due to political infighting.

The delays have been a “shock” for Ukrainian officials, Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said in an online briefing for foreign media.

“We are approaching the end of March and deliberations continue, deliberations on the issue of vital interest, strategic interest of the US in Europe,” he added.

The day before, President Volodymyr Zelensky told US Senator Lindsey Graham that is was “critically important” for the US to make a swift decision.

Kyiv has intensified its attacks on Russian territory, with shelling and incursions in the regions of Belgorod and Kursk.

In the past week these attacks killed 16 people and wounded nearly a hundred in the region of Belgorod, its governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said.