Russian forces are aggressively attacking more Ukrainian towns and villages in eastern and southeastern Ukraine, Kiev officials say, as the Kremlin seeks to extend its current superiority in weapons and troops. announced on Thursday.
Despite Russia’s apparent offensive momentum on the ground, Ukraine announced it had shot down 13 Russian fighter jets this month, including three on Thursday, as Kremlin forces advanced.
As the all-out war enters its third year, the Russian military is deploying overwhelming amounts of artillery and troops to crush some Ukrainian defensive positions into submission and break through defense lines at target locations. .
President Putin issues chilling warning against sending Western troops to Ukraine’s defense
Russia’s gains have been small, slow and expensive, but with dwindling supplies of military aid from the West, Ukraine does not have sufficient reserves and is severely lacking in artillery shells.
Ukrainian military commander Colonel Oleksandr Shirushkyi said on social media that Russian forces were attempting to capture the towns and villages of Tonenke, Orlivka, Seminivka, Berdychy and Krasnohorivka in eastern Donetsk region.
These are the areas where Ukrainian military officials said they would form a new line of defense after Ukrainian troops withdrew from Avdiivka on February 17.
In southeastern Zaporizhzhya, Russian forces are focused on retaking the towns of Verbove and Lobotyn, which Ukraine regained in a counteroffensive last summer, by 2023, Shirschiky said.
A woman cries at the funeral of a senior Ukrainian lieutenant in Kiev on February 28, 2023. The lieutenant was killed in a battle with Russian troops. (AP Photo/Evgeny Maloletka)
Shirsky, who was appointed by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to lead the country’s armed forces on February 8, accused some commanders of making “miscalculations” in assessing the enemy and taking countermeasures.
Meanwhile, Ukraine’s Ministry of Defense announced that its military shot down three Russian Su-34 fighter jets overnight.
This brings the total number of fighter jets that Ukraine claims to have shot down since February 17th to 11, including the A-50 early warning and control aircraft, to 13 in February, and the monthly number to October 2022. It is said to be the highest since then.
“The enemy is strengthening its air presence in the east. Our military’s highest leadership has responded accordingly,” Air Force spokesman Yury Ifnat said on state television.
The big question for Kiev officials is how they can elicit more military aid from their partners. Amid political conflict in Washington, US national security emergency funds for Ukraine remain on hold.
The speaker of Ukraine’s parliament, Ruslan Stefanchuk, has written an open letter to US House of Representatives Speaker Mike Johnson, asking him to vote on the Biden administration’s proposal to send $60 billion in aid to Ukraine.
The letter, posted by Stefanchuk on X (formerly Twitter) on Wednesday, was also signed by 23 European presidents and parliament presidents.
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Eight Ukrainian civilians, including a six-year-old girl, were killed and at least 12 others injured in the past 24 hours in the southeast of Ukraine, Ukraine’s presidential administration said on Thursday.
