This Monday has literally been a day of “crossfire” between Ukraine and Russia, both militarily and verbally, regarding the counteroffensive launched by kyiv to counter the Russian invasion.
Through various sources, Ukraine confirmed on Monday that it was carrying out “offensive actions” in sectors of the combat front and claimed progress near the devastated city of Bakhmut (east). And as expected, Moscow claims to have rejected an offensive that had been announced for a few weeks.
the defensive operation [de Ucrania] includes counteroffensive actions. As a result, in various sectors, we are carrying out offensive actions,” Ukrainian Deputy Defense Minister Ganna Maliar said on the Telegram platform.
“The Bakhmut sector remains the epicenter of hostilities. We are advancing on a very broad front. We have registered successes and occupied strategic places. The enemy is on the defensive,” he added.
For its part, Russia said on Monday it had repelled major offensives in the east and south after inflicting heavy human and material losses on the Ukrainians.
For months, kyiv said it was training to recapture territories controlled by Russian forces and Russian-speaking separatist militias in the eastern Donbass region. However, the Ukrainian authorities warned that they will not divulge their plans or the date of the operations.
Russia’s Wagner paramilitary group claimed the city of Bakhmut in May after the longest and deadliest battle of the war. Its leader, Yevgeny Prigozhin, confirmed on Monday that the Ukrainian forces have retaken part of the town of Berkhivka, north of Bakhmut.
The Ukrainian deputy minister did not comment on the locations in the southern Donetsk region and neighboring Zaporizhia, where Moscow claims to have repelled Kiev soldiers.
The information released by the two parties could not be immediately verified by independent sources.
The war triggered by the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which began in February 2022, plunged Europe into what is considered the worst military crisis since World War II (1939-1945).
The number of civilian and military casualties in the conflict is unknown, but several sources, including the United Nations, have admitted that it will be very high.
