Ground attacks were concentrated on the strategic city of Sivarsk, 44 kilometers east of Sloviansk, and about 58 kilometers northeast of Kramatorsk, two key Ukrainian strongholds in the Donetsk region.
Vitaly Kisiliov, a spokesman for the Interior Ministry of the Luhansk People’s Republic (RPL), assured the official Russian news agency Tass that combat units were “practically evicting the Ukrainian army from Chiversk.”
According to the same source, Ukrainian troops are returning to Kramatorsk and Sloviansk.
“I believe our artillery will finish off all these fugitives,” said Kisilov.
In turn, Andriy Marochko, the Ukrainian military spokesman for the region, said in his account on the social network Telegram that the command had taken the decision to gradually withdraw its units from Chiversk in small groups.
Ukrainian authorities condemned Friday’s missile attack on Mykolaiv, the capital of the southern region of the same name.
“Today, the Russian terrorist attacked two major universities in Mykolaiv. With at least ten missiles. They are now attacking our education,” highlighted the governor of the region, Vitaly Kim, via Twitter, where he posted a video with images of the impact of ‘rockets’ on the city, according to the municipality in the attack. Four injuries were sustained.
On the other hand, the Security Service of Ukraine announced today by telegram that members of its special operations center, together with members of the armed forces, shot down an SU-25 and damaged another area in the southern part of Zaporizhia with a portable device. Air defense systems.
Despite advances by Russian forces in eastern Ukraine, the Kiev government hopes that, with help from the West, the war could end by the end of the year.
“Even from a military point of view, this is a completely realistic plan to liberate our territories and return to the situation that existed on February 23, 2022,” Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov said.
According to Reznikov, in any case, to carry out a counterattack, Ukraine needs planes, tanks and a lot of artillery.
“In the past few weeks, we have destroyed more than 30 enemy logistics facilities. That is why now the offensive capability of the Russian occupation troops has significantly decreased,” Ukrainian Defense Spokesman Oleksandr Motusyanik noted this Friday.
The spokesman particularly highlighted the “fantastic work” being done by the US M142 HIMARS missile launchers.
In Russia, the so-called “special military operation” launched by the Kremlin in Ukraine has drawn increasing criticism from ultra-Russian nationalist factions.
Igor Girkin, a retired Russian officer who led the pro-Russian offensive on Donbas in 2014 under the alias “Strelkov”, declared that there was no way to win the war without mobilization, because “a million men are needed. On the ground.”.
Despite the criticism, the Kremlin insists that “everything is going as planned” and that it is avoiding continuing partial mobilization because of the move’s unpopularity and because it would mean admitting that the “special operation” is a war.
Thus, the Russian authorities began a campaign to recruit volunteers in various regions of the country.
Monthly salaries range from 200,000 to 400,000 rubles (3,500 to 7,000 euros), exorbitant sums for most people.
In addition to the state offer, there are also proposals from the private military company Wagner, whose ownership is attributed to St. Petersburg businessman Yevgeny Prigozhin.
“There’s good news: Orchestra needs musicians in Ukraine”, “Join us to liberate all of Donbass”, read on Wagner’s website.
“Hardcore explorer. Extreme communicator. Professional writer. General music practitioner. Prone to fits of apathy.”