Near Bakhmut, Ukrainian troops deter up to 20 Russian attacks every day.
This was reported at the briefing by the Deputy Chief of the Main Operational Department of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Oleksiy Hromov.
"The most difficult situation remains in the eastern part of the country, where the enemy is trying to enter the administrative border of Donetsk region. Since December 23, 259 combat encounters with the enemy occurred during the operation of the Defense Forces. The aggressor fired more than 4 000 shots at the positions of our troops. Around Bakhmut, the defenders of Ukraine hold back up to 20 enemy attacks every day, which, under the cover of artillery fire, are aggressively advancing on the positions of our troops," he noted.
According to him, the Russians reduced the intensity of shelling in the Zaporizhzhia and Kherson directions, but concentrated artillery attacks in the Bakhmut direction.
According to the information of the General Staff, more than 40% of the enemyʼs artillery fire along the contact line from Kupyansk to Maryinka falls on the Bakhmut direction.
- The fighting in the Bakhmut direction has been going on for more than six months. The Russians are drawing more and more new forces there, but the Defense Forces of Ukraine are still holding their positions. In addition, during the week, the Armed Forces of Ukraine advanced 2.5 kilometers in the direction of Kreminna, Luhansk region.