A Ukrainian commander said his country’s army was making “necessary decisions” to save lives and conserve ammunition.
Russia continues to launch attacks across the entire front line in Ukraine, Ukrainian Ground Forces Commander Oleksandr Syrskyi said on Sunday.
“The operational situation in the east remains difficult“, he wrote on Telegram, “the enemy continues to carry out offensive operations across the entire front“.
Oleksandr Syrskyi said that he and other commanders on the eastern front line had “analyzed the situation in detail and considered options for further operations“.
“We have taken the necessary decisions and appropriate measures together to ensure the stability of our defensepreserve the lives of our soldiers and use ammunition rationally“, he adds on Telegram.
On Sunday, General Oleksandr Tarnavskyi, who leads Ukrainian forces on the front line between Avdiivka and Zaporizhzhia, said Moscow’s troops were carrying out fewer attacks in the southeast, but their air attacks were intensifying.
He claimed that the Ukrainian army held the front line in Avdiivka, while Russian forces relentlessly attacked the city of Donetsk since the beginning of autumn.
The commander’s comment comes at a difficult time for Ukraine, with the summer counter-offensive widely seen as a failure.
Winter weather conditions made it more difficult to advance on the battlefield and had a dramatic impact on soldiers and civilians.
Russia fired eight ballistic missiles at Kyiv early Monday, all of which were shot down, according to the Ukrainian Air Force. The attack left one injured by shrapnel and three others suffered serious stress reactions, officials said.
At the beginning of December, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said that his country’s army “progressed in all directions” in Ukraine.
He added that the combat capabilities of kyiv were “significantly reduced“ after their counter-offensive.
Euronews was unable to verify these claims.