Ukrainian troops forced to retreat

UKRAINE’S troops have been forced to make a tactical retreat from three villages in the embattled east, the country’s army chief has said. Col Gen Oleksandr Syrskyi warned of a worsening battlefield situation as Ukrainian forces wait for muchneeded arms from a huge US aid package to reach combat zones.

He reported that Russian forces continued to attack “along the entire front line” of more than 620 miles, with pitched battles raging west of Avdiivka, the eastern city they took in February after a gruelling, months-long fight. “The most difficult situation is in the Pokrovsk and Kurakhove directions, where fierce battles continue,” Col Gen Syrskyi said in an update posted to the Telegram messaging app, referencing two Ukrainian-held cities in the wartorn Donetsk region, once a hub of industry.

“The enemy has engaged up to four brigades in these directions, and is trying to develop an offensive west of Avdiivka and Marinka, making its way to Pokrovsk and Kurakhove.

“Units of the Defence Forces of Ukraine, preserving the lives and health of our defenders, moved to new frontiers west of Berdychi, Semenivka and Novomykhailivka.”

Two of these front-line villages lie less than 31 miles east of Pokrovsk, while the third is located around 20 miles by road from Kurakhove.

A Washington-based think tank predicted late on Saturday that Russian forces “will likely make significant tactical gains in the coming weeks” as acute ammunition shortages continue to hobble Ukraine’s defence efforts.

In its latest operational assessment, the Institute for the Study of War said that Moscow’s forces have opportunities to push forward around Avdiivka, and also threaten nearby Chasiv Yar.

‘TACTICAL’: Communal workers clearing up at the site of a rocket attack on a hospital in Kharkiv on Saturday.