Russian forces have descended on the japanese Ukrainian metropolis of Bakhmut in current days because the Donetsk province stays on the forefront of the conflict, and Russian officers are claiming new positive aspects within the Donbas area, citing the destruction of seven Ukrainian command posts on the battlefield.
On Tuesday, Russian Defense Ministry Spokesman Lieutenant-General Igor Konashenkov introduced that troops efficiently struck seven military command posts—4 in Karkov, Ukraine’s second-largest metropolis, two in Donetsk and one in Zaporizhzhia.
“In addition, they destroyed 86 artillery units at firing positions, and also manpower and military equipment in 172 areas,” Konashenkov stated, based on Russian information company Tass.
However, Michael MacKay, a Canadian political analyst who has tracked the conflict in Ukraine, instructed Newsweek that the newest experiences from Russian officers “doesn’t track at all with what I’m seeing.”
“The settlements mentioned in the Russian propaganda were shelled by the invaders but they are all on the front line and do not have Ukrainian command posts,” MacKay stated.
According to the protection ministry, the settlements the place command posts had been struck by Russian forces embody Kislovka, Krakhmalnoye, Berestovoye, Monachinovka, Georgiyevka, Vodyanoye and Zolotaya Krucha.
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The newest developments within the conflict have centered on the 4 provinces within the south and east of Ukraine that Russian President Vladimir Putin claimed to have annexed in late September: Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson. The battles counsel that Russia is struggling to manage the areas that the Kremlin claimed to have occupied.
Over the weekend, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated, “The occupiers actually destroyed Bakhmut, another Donbas city that the Russian army turned into burnt ruins.”
The battle for Bakhmut intensified following Ukraine’s profitable recapture of Kherson a few month in the past. Even earlier than the current preventing, residents in Bakhmut had spent weeks with out water and energy earlier than Moscow launched a large effort to wipe out vitality throughout Ukraine.
However, some have questioned the technique of capturing Bakhmut. Last week, the Institute for the Study of War stated that the prices of fight across the japanese metropolis “far outweigh any operational advantage” Russia would achieve from taking Bakhmut.
McKay additionally stated that with Russian troops targeted on offensive operations on the Bakhmut and Avdiyivka battlefronts, “they are gaining ground nowhere.” Comparably, he stated Ukrainian forces are slowly gaining floor on the Svatove-Kreminna battlefront.
On Tuesday, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported that over the past 24 hours, Ukrainian troops repelled assaults within the settlements of Novoselivske, Stelmakhivka, Novoegorivka, Makiyivka, Chervonopovka and Belogorivka within the Luhansk area, and Verkhnyokamianske, Soledar, Yakovlivka, Bakhmutske, Bakhmut, Klishchievka, Kurdyumivka, Majorsk, Avdiivka and Maryinka within the Donetsk area.
Ukraine additionally stated that Russia launched seven missile strikes within the Donetsk area that resulted in casualties amongst civilians.
“Russian occupiers continue to carry out full-scale armed aggression against our country, they do not stop striking civilian infrastructure objects and civilian homes on the territory of Ukraine,” the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine wrote in a Facebook publish.
Since the invasion of Ukraine started on February 24, Russian Armed Forces have reportedly destroyed greater than 7,000 Ukrainian tanks and fight automobiles, over 900 rocket launchers and greater than 500 warplanes and helicopters, Konashenkov stated.
Update 12/13/21 1:26 p.m. ET This story was up to date with feedback from Michael MacKay.