• Direct War Ukraine - Russia, last minute

Ukrainian forces have advanced this week about two kilometers around the city of Bakhmut, in eastern Ukraine, and have not given up any position in that time, Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar said Friday.

Maliar appears to downplay suggestions that Ukraine had already begun its expected counteroffensive and has urged Ukrainians to ignore what it describes as Russian disinformation about the situation in and around Bakhmut.

Russian military bloggers reported Thursday that Ukrainian troops had broken through parts of the front line. Moscow denied those reports and said the situation was under control after ten months of fierce fighting.

"How does the enemy cover the battles at Bakhmut? He praises himself, talks about supposed successes and makes up stories about our military command," Maliar wrote on the Telegram messaging app. "At the same time, it gives false information about the lack of weapons, which is probably intended to justify the real situation."

Describing that "real situation" over the past week, Ukraine's Deputy Defense Minister has said that "the enemy could not carry out its plans, suffered heavy human losses, our defenders advanced 2 km (1.2 miles) in the Bajmu sector, we did not lose a single position."

Moscow sees Bakhmut as a springboard to attack other Ukrainian cities. Kiev has said that maintaining the town's defense allows Ukraine's army to prepare its counteroffensive.

In another post on Telegram, Maliar later added that the Russian attacks were being answered by defensive operations and counterattacks, suggesting that such moves should not be considered part of any major Ukrainian counteroffensive. "This situation has actually been going on for several months," he wrote. "That's it! Nothing else is happening."

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in an interview with European broadcasters published Thursday that the counteroffensive had not yet begun. Reuters has not been able to verify the situation on the battlefield.

  • Ukraine
  • Russia
  • War Ukraine Russia
  • Volodymyr Zelensky

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