Kiev, Ukraine:
Ukraine's top commander said Sunday that Kiev's outnumbered troops have fallen back to new positions west of three villages on the eastern front, where Russia has concentrated significant forces in several locations.
Colonel General Oleksandr Syrskyi's statement reflected Ukraine's deteriorating position in the east, which Kiev hopes can stabilize once it receives US weapons under a $61 billion aid package approved this week.
“The situation on the front has deteriorated,” Syrskyi wrote on the Telegram app, describing the “most difficult” areas as west of occupied Maryinka and northwest of Avdiivka, the city captured by Russian forces in February.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy made a new plea to international partners to speed up arms deliveries so Kiev could maintain its positions and disrupt Russian plans.
He said he spoke with U.S. Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries on Sunday and “underscored that Patriot systems are needed, and as soon as possible.”
Syrskyi said Kiev's forces had taken new positions west of the villages of Berdychi and Semenivka, both north of Avdiivka, and Novomykhailivka, further south near the town of Maryinka.
“In general, the enemy achieved certain tactical successes in these areas, but could not gain operational advantages,” he said, adding that Russia had deployed four brigades to the attack.
In those areas, newly equipped Ukrainian brigades were rotated to replace units that had suffered losses, he said.
His statement did not mention the status of Novobakhmutivka, another village near Berdychi, which the Russian Defense Ministry said was captured by its forces on Sunday.
Moscow's forces have been advancing slowly since capturing the bastion city of Avdiivka, taking advantage of Ukraine's shortage of artillery shells and manpower.
Online battlefield maps produced by open-source intelligence analysts suggest that they have advanced more than 15 km (9.5 mi) towards the village of Ocheretyne since the capture of Avdiivka.
Further along the front, the Kiev-held town of Chasiv Yar is an important emerging battlefield due to its location on higher ground that could serve as a gateway to the towns of Kostiantynivka, Sloviansk and Kramatorsk.
Syrskyi described Chasiv Yar and the village of Ivanivske in the northeast as the “hottest places” on that part of the front. The Russian Defense Ministry said it had repulsed Ukrainian counterattacks near Khasiv Yar.
Construction of Kharkov
In what could prove to be a worrying development for Ukraine, Syrskyi said his troops were closely monitoring the increase in the number of Russian troops in the area of Kharkiv, Ukraine's second-largest city.
The northeastern city of 1.3 million, just 30 km from the Russian border, has been ravaged by airstrikes in recent months. Kiev has said it is a deliberate attempt by Moscow to make Kharkiv uninhabitable.
Syrskyi said there were signs that Russia was immediately preparing for an offensive in the north of the country.
“In the most threatening directions, our forces have been reinforced by artillery and tank units,” he said.
Ukraine is currently expecting a long-awaited delivery of U.S. military aid, which officials say is crucial to halting Russia's two-year invasion. Zelenskiy said Ukrainian and American teams were working on a “specific text” of a 10-year security deal that would include weapons and other support.
A Ukrainian intelligence source told Reuters this week that Russia was carrying out airstrikes on Ukrainian railway lines to disrupt the supply of US weapons to the front and complicate military logistics.
(This story has not been edited by DailyExpertNews staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)