The battlefield situation in Ukraine’s east is getting tougher for Ukrainian army to repel.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the president of Ukraine, has issued a warning that the situation on the eastern front line is becoming increasingly difficult as Russia continues to send additional troops into the battle in an effort to weaken Ukrainian defenses.
Zelenskyy made his remarks on Saturday as bombardment in the eastern Donetsk area went on and almost 500,000 residents in Odesa’s southern district were left without energy due to an accident at a power plant.
“I’ve often had to say the situation at the front is tough, and is getting tougher, and it’s that time again. … The invader is putting more and more of his forces into breaking down our defences,” Zelenskyy said in his nightly video address.
“It is very difficult now in Bakhmut, Vuhledar, Lyman and other directions,” he continued.
After months of losses, Russian forces have been striving for a decisive military win. They are currently working to strengthen their hold on the town of Bakhmut and are also attempting to seize the adjacent coal-mining city of Vuhledar, which is also located in the eastern area of Donetsk.
Russian attempts to breach the defenses in Bakhmut and Lyman had failed, according to a Telegram message from deputy defense minister Hanna Malyar earlier in the day.
In October, Ukrainian forces seized Lyman, which is located close to the north of Bakhmut.
“This week, the Russian occupation forces threw all their efforts into breaking through our defence and encircling Bakhmut, and launched a powerful offensive in the Lyman sector,” Malyar said. “But thanks to the resilience of our soldiers, they did not succeed.”
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According to the border guard agency of Ukraine, as its men repelled the most recent attack, they killed four enemy soldiers and injured seven more.
The Kremlin acknowledged that Russia has lost soldiers as a result of the battle in the area of Bakhmut.
Around 40,000 of the 50,000 recruits by the powerful Wagner private military organization active in the war there, according to independent Russian news source Meduza, were either dead or missing as of late January.
