‘Situation in Ukraine’s east front has worsened’
Ukraine’s Commander in Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi said on Saturday the situation in his country’s eastern front had worsened significantly, and Russia claimed the capture of a village near the occupied industrial town of Avdiivka.
“The situation on the eastern front has deteriorated significantly in recent days,” said Syrskyi, who took over as commander in chief in February after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy fired his popular predecessor, Valery Zaluzhny.
Moscow’s defense ministry announced that its troops had “liberated” the village of Pervomaiske in the eastern Donetsk region, about 11 kilometers (7 miles) west of the largely destroyed town of Avdiivka, which Russia captured in mid-February.
Ukraine has not confirmed this, with its army saying on Friday it had repelled attacks on the village.
Syrskyi spoke of “a significant intensification of the enemy’s offensive after the presidential elections in Russia” last month.
He said decisions were being taken “to strengthen the most problematic defense areas with electronic warfare and air defense.”
In the southern Zaporizhzhia region, Russia accused Ukraine of killing 10 by shelling the occupied town of Tokmak, which fell under Moscow’s control at the start of its invasion in February 2022.
Ukrainian authorities in Zaporizhzhia said Russia had struck the region more than 400 times over the previous day, including from planes.
Ukraine has also said the situation around the eastern frontline city of Chasiv Yar is “difficult and tense” with the area under “constant fire.”
Chasiv Yar lies 20 km (12 mi) west of the city of Bakhmut, which was flattened by months of artillery fire before Moscow captured it last May.
Russia is now securing fresh territorial gains and trying to press onward against Ukrainian units hobbled by delays in the supply of vital Western military aid.
“The enemy is actively attacking our positions in the Lyman and Bakhmut sectors ... In the Pokrovsk sector, they are trying to break through our defense using dozens of tanks and armored personnel carriers,” Syrskyi said.
“The issue of achieving technical superiority over the enemy in high-tech weapons has again arisen. Only this will enable us to defeat a larger enemy,” he added.
“The second serious problem is to improve the quality of training of military personnel, especially infantry units, so that they can make the most of all the capabilities of military equipment and Western weapons,” the comEuropean allies of Ukraine are engaged in a training push for its forces.
France’s Defense Chief Sebastien Lecornu said on Friday that future Ukrainian fighter pilots likely to fly American F-16 aircraft were receiving their initial training in the country’s south.