Kiev confirmed on Monday afternoon that it had begun “offensive operations” in some sectors of the front. They have already brought profit to Ukraine near the ruined city of Pashmut. At the same time, the Ukrainians are downplaying the attacks that Moscow claims to have repelled.
Earlier today, the Russian military announced that it had killed 900 Ukrainian soldiers in 24 hours repelling the Ukrainian attack. The enemy has failed to achieve its objectives. Near Neskotsyn, in the area the Russians called the Donetsk People’s Republic, and at Novodarevka, in the Zaporizhia region, the Russians are said to have inflicted heavy losses on the Ukrainians.
“The Pashmut sector remains the epicenter of the fighting,” Ukrainian Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Malgar told Telegram. “On a fairly broad front, we are moving forward and achieving success.”
Just last month, the Russians took control of Bashmuyt after months of heavy fighting. But according to Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin, “part of the village of Berkhivka, north of Pashmut, has already been lost,” which he says is a “shame.” He took advantage of the loss to attack again Valery Gerasimov, the leader of the invasion of Ukraine, and Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu.
Alexander Khodakovsky, commander of pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine’s Donetsk region, denied the Russians had succeeded in repelling the attack.
According to Khodakovsky, “the enemy knows success,” and moreover it was a smaller “tactical movement” rather than a major operation. We have put the enemy in a difficult position. The commander also noted that he saw a Leopard tank, part of Western arms shipments, in his “tactical room” for the first time. (AP)
