Intense fighting raged along Ukraine’s front lines Thursday, according to officials in Kyiv, as Ukrainian troops made slow but steady gains in their ongoing counteroffensive to drive a wedge through the Russian-occupied south.
KYIV, Ukraine — To the south of the eastern city of Bakhmut — which fell to Russia in May after months of vicious fighting — Ukraine’s deputy defense minister, Hanna Maliar, said Kyiv’s forces were “gradually moving forward.” North of the city, Ukrainian troops were “repelling enemy attacks,” she said.
On Wednesday, Ukrainian officials said their forces made advances south of Orikhiv in the southeastern Zaporizhzhia region, in a drive to reach the Sea of Azov, which would sever Moscow’s land bridge to occupied Crimea and limit Moscow’s ability to move troops and equipment. Oleh Kiper, head of the Odessa regional administration, said Thursday that Russian missiles hit port infrastructure in an overnight attack. It was the latest barrage in Russia’s campaign to destroy Ukraine’s ability to export grain after Moscow’sfrom an agreement to provide safe passage for ships transporting Ukrainian agricultural products. The attack killed a security guard and damaged equipment at a cargo terminal, Kiper said.
In its daily report on the conflict, the Institute for the Study of War in Washington said Ukrainian forces had “launched a significant mechanized counteroffensive operation” in Zaporizhzhia and appeared “to have broken through certain pre-prepared Russian defensive positions south of Orikhiv.”Russian and Ukrainian officials also said intense fighting was taking place around the town of Robotyne, six miles south of Orikhiv.
American officials said the movement of additional Ukrainian forces to the Zaporizhzhia region could be a sign that fresh troops are being sent to probe Russian lines or are being deployed to replace fatigued units.Dara Massicot, an expert on the Russian military at the Rand Corp., said she was concerned that Ukraine could be deploying troops it had held in reserve before breaking through Russia’s first line of defense.
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