Ukrainian offensive ‘is being conducted on several fronts’, official says



CNN

The Ukrainian offensive is “on several fronts,” Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Malyar told Ukrainian television on Monday, fueling rumors that Kiev may launch a major offensive to retake territory held by Russian occupying forces.

“It’s not just about Bakhmut. The advance is on several fronts. We rejoice in every meter. Today is a successful day for our forces,” she said.

In recent weeks, the Ukrainian military has stepped up formation operations — attacks on Russian targets such as fuel depots and weapons depots far behind the front lines — that usually precede a major ground offensive. But government officials in Kyiv go out of their way to say that no counteroffensive will be announced.

Both Ukraine and Russia are conducting intense information campaigns to influence public opinion and mislead their adversaries about their combat plans.

Mallyar’s comments came after the Russian Defense Ministry said his troops had repulsed a “large-scale” attack from Ukrainian forces in the east of the Donetsk region. A Russian military statement claimed they had killed 250 Ukrainians and destroyed armored vehicles used in the assault, but provided scant evidence.

Moscow is known to exaggerate Ukraine’s losses. CNN was unable to independently verify this claim.

Ukrainian Armed Forces spokesman Bohdan Senik told CNN that Ukraine has “no information” about an alleged “large-scale offensive” in Donetsk.

Ukrainian troops near the city of Avdiivka in Donetsk on May 31, 2023.  Moscow said it repelled an attack by Kyiv forces in the eastern region on Sunday.

In its message on the official Telegram feed, the Russian Ministry of Defense said that the assault took place on “five sectors of the front in the southern direction of Donetsk.”

The ministry said the aim of the Ukrainian operation was to “break through” Russian defenses in what it considered “the most vulnerable sector of the front.”

At the time of the attack, Russia’s top general Valery Gerasimov “was at one of the forward command posts,” the report said.

Gerasimov, who is chief of the Russian General Staff, was appointed earlier this year to lead Russian military operations in Ukraine. He was publicly criticized by the head of the Russian private military company Wagner for allegedly directing the war from a comfortable office.

President Zelenskiy provided few details about Kyiv's long-awaited spring counteroffensive.

Further south, a Russian-appointed official in Zaporozhye said Ukrainian troops were trying to break through the defense line and reach the coast of the Sea of ​​Azov.

“Goal [Ukraine Armed Forces] the militants will have to go to the coast of the Sea of ​​Azov and cut the land corridor, ”said Vladimir Rogov, RIA Novosti reports.

He stated that the Ukrainian troops had increased the intensity of shelling and launched “Storm Shadow” missiles. “They are launched in large numbers, which means that Ukrainian militants and terrorists have enough ammunition.”

Rogov said he didn’t think he had a full-scale counteroffensive before.

Ukrainian soldiers prepare to open fire on Russian positions near the city of Avdiivka in Donetsk, June 2, 2023.

In a Telegram message on Monday, Malyar said that the country’s troops were “conducting offensive operations” on the eastern front and “advancing in several directions” around the city of Bakhmut: in the area of ​​\u200b\u200bthe settlements of Orikhovo-Vasilovka and Paraskovievka to the north, and near Ivanovsky and Klischevka to the south. west.

Serhiy Cherevaty, spokesman for the Eastern Group of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, also spoke about the “offensive offensive” of the Ukrainians “on the southern and northern flanks of Bakhmut” on national television on Monday.

“These actions were successful,” Cherevaty said. “Despite the fierce resistance of the enemy, our air assault and mechanized units managed to advance along the Seversky Donets-Donbass canal in the direction of Klishchevka, Orikhovo-Vasilovka, Zaliznyanskoye, Bogdanovka at a distance of 300 meters to 1 km in various parts of the city. Front line”.

CNN can’t verify reports from the battlefield.

It comes after Maliar and other officials posted a video on social media calling for silence on any potential news of a counteroffensive.

In the video, several soldiers in full combat gear can be seen putting their finger to their lips and saying “shhh” followed by the text: “Plans love silence. Start [of the counteroffensive] will not be announced.”

President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky in his nightly address praised the troops fighting around the battle town of Bakhmut, saying: “I am grateful to every soldier, to all our defenders, who provided us with the news today that we were all waiting for in the Bakhmut direction. . Well done, warriors!

Days earlier, Zelenskiy had told the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) that Kyiv was “ready” to begin long-awaited military maneuvers.

“I think that today we are ready to do it. We wish there were certain things, but we can’t wait months for that,” Zelensky said in an interview. exclusive video interview posted on Saturday.

The president said he believed the counteroffensive would succeed, but he was not sure how long it would take.

“Everyone knows perfectly well that any counteroffensive in the world without control in the sky is very dangerous. Imagine how a military man feels knowing that he does not have a “roof”, and he cannot understand where the neighboring countries have it from,” Zelensky said of his relentless campaign to get the allies to supply Ukraine with F-16 fighter jets.

According to the WSJ, Zelensky acknowledged Russia’s superiority in the skies, adding that the lack of protection from Moscow’s air power meant “a large number of soldiers would die” during the counteroffensive.

“If everyone knows that we need protection for our skies, then what’s the problem with [giving us] modern planes? What’s the problem?” he pleaded.

The Ukrainian leader spent months urging Western allies to provide Kyiv with fighter jets and weapons to help control the skies and limit Ukrainian fighter jet casualties in any potential counteroffensive.

Earlier this week, Jake Sullivan, US President Joe Biden’s national security adviser, said Washington believed a counteroffensive would help Kyiv regain control. “strategic territory”

“How much and in what places will depend on events on the ground when the Ukrainians launch this counteroffensive,” Sullivan told CNN correspondent Farid Zakaria. “But we believe that the Ukrainians will succeed in this counter-offensive.”