In the north of the self-declared Donetsk People’s Republic, the Russian Army reported new gains (DPR).
Photo: Reuters
Many districts surrounding Bakhmut, a significant bastion held by Ukrainian forces and the scene of fierce battle in recent weeks, have been taken over by the Russian army.
The Russian army’s operations have entirely liberated the self-declared Donetsk People’s Republic communities of Belogorovka and Pershe Travnya on the Donetsk axis, the Defense Ministry reported at its daily briefing.
Approximately 20 kilometres northeast of the town of Bakhmut is the small village of Belogrovka. The village of Ozaryanovka, which is roughly 12 km south of this town, is the second settlement named in the news conference.
The village of Andreevka, which is located 5 kilometres north of Ozaryanovka, was reportedly under Russian Defense Ministry control later in the day. The army has reportedly entered the nearby village of Kurdyumovka, according to DPR leader Denis Pushilin. He explained that the settlements were on a crucial supply line for the Bakhmut garrison of the Ukrainians.
The army will advance to the Artemovsk highway after taking control of Kurdyumovka, where the enemy is still resisting, cutting off the main fighting group of Ukraine’s supply routes, according to Pushilin, speaking to Rossiya-24 television.
In a related development, Russian forces attempted to advance further in the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine, where fighting was fierce, and shelled several towns, including Bakhmut and Soledar and nearby Opytne, according to a statement from the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine .
Defense positions were under the authority of Moscow, which also directed mortar and artillery fire at Ukrainian positions. Northeastern and central Ukraine saw additional violence.
President Volodymyr Zelensky stated, “We are analysing the enemy’s intentions and preparing countermeasures – tougher measures than now,” adding that the fighting has left nearly 6 million people without power in the majority of Ukraine’s regions, including Kiev. According to Kyrylo Tymoshenko, the president of Ukraine’s deputy chief of staff, power has been restored to about 65% of Kherson residents.
340 of the roughly 400 Iranian drones that Russia utilised in the fight were shot down by the defensive forces, according to Yuriy Ignat, spokesman for the Ukrainian air force.
On February 24, Russia began a military campaign in Ukraine, alleging Kiev’s failure to carry out the Minsk agreements intended to give the Donetsk and Lugansk regions independence under the special status of Ukraine.
The Kremlin demanded that Ukraine formally declare itself a neutral nation that would never ally with any Western military alliance after acknowledging the independence of the two self-declared republics in the Donbass. Kiev, for its part, maintains that there was no cause for the Russian attack.
