Russian assault targets new Ukrainian towns and villages as Ukraine claims to have shot down warplanes.
Russian forces are attacking new Ukrainian towns and villages in eastern and southeastern Ukraine as Moscow attempts to assert its current advantage in weapons and troops, officials said Thursday. Kiev officials.
Despite Russia’s apparent offensive momentum on the ground, Ukraine claimed to have shot down 11 Russian warplanes in less than two weeks as Kremlin forces advanced.
As the war enters its third year, Russian forces have bludgeoned some Ukrainian defensive positions into submission, deploying overwhelming amounts of artillery and troops in an attempt to break through the defensive lines at targeted locations.
Ukraine lacks ammunition
Although Russia’s gains have been small, slow and costly, Ukraine does not have enough reservists and is suffering a severe shortage of artillery shells due to declining military aid provided by Western partners.
The Russian army is trying to seize the towns and villages of Tonenke, Orlivka, Semenivka, Berdychi and Krasnohorivka in the eastern Donetsk region, Ukrainian army chief General Oleksandr Syrskyi said on the social networks.
These are places where Ukrainian military officials had said they would form a new line of defense after Ukrainian troops withdrew from Avdiivka on February 17.
In the country’s southeastern Zaporizhzhia region, Russian forces are focused on retaking Verbove and Robotyne, towns that Ukraine reconquered during last summer’s counter-offensive in 2023, it said. Mr. Syrskyi.
Syrskyi, who was appointed by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to lead the country’s army on February 8, accused some of his commanders of making “miscalculations” in assessing the enemy and adopting countermeasures.
Separately, Ukrainian Air Force Commander Mykola Oleshchuk said his units shot down two Russian Su-34 jets overnight.
This brings to 11 the number of warplanes, including an A-50 warning and control plane, that Ukraine claims to have shot down since February 17.
“The enemy has strengthened its air presence in the east. Our senior military officials reacted accordingly“Air Force spokesman Yurii Ihnat said on national television.
Military aid remains an important issue
A major question for Kyiv officials is how they can unlock additional military aid from their partners. Emergency U.S. funds for Ukraine’s national security remain on hold amid political conflict in Washington.
The Speaker of the Ukrainian Parliament, Ruslan Stefanchuk, sent an open letter to the Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, Mike Johnson, asking him to put to a vote the Biden administration’s proposal to send $60 billion in aid to Ukraine.
The letter that Mr. Stefanchuk published on Wednesday on X, formerly Twitter, was also signed by 23 presidents and heads of parliament of European countries.
Eight Ukrainian civilians, including a 6-year-old girl, were killed and at least 12 people were injured in the southeast over the past 24 hours, the Ukrainian president’s office said Thursday.