This was announced by the Ukrainian authorities Robotini’s takeover of the city as part of the army’s counter-offensive in the Zaporizhia province in the south of the country, which has been partially occupied by Russian troops since the invasion began in February 2022. “Offensive actions continue to be carried out in the southern region. Robotini was released“said Deputy Defense Minister of Ukraine Hanna Maliar, as reported by Ukraine’s Ukrinform news agency. This conquest is a sign that Kiev’s tough counter-offensive may be gaining momentum.
According to Ukrainian military and intelligence reports, Zelenskyy’s forces have penetrated the first line of Russian defenses behind Robotini and are within striking distance of the nearest defensive barrier. The capture of this village opens the way for Ukraine to break through the Russian defenses and advance toward strategically important cities further south, such as Logistics center Tokmak.
Oleksandr Shtupun, a spokesman for Ukraine’s local defense forces, said Sunday that Ukraine had “penetrated into Robotini’s territory” and that the Russian military was using reinforcements from elsewhere to bolster the defenses.
The Financial Times newspaper asserts that the Ukrainian army has been pursuing a gradual attrition strategy aimed at destroying Russia’s logistics and artillery systems so that its own forces can penetrate the minefields without suffering heavy casualties. However, he warns that a breakthrough against a networked system of trenches and tunnels that allows the Russian army to move troops, weapons and ammunition across the front lines will be difficult.
advance in the north
According to the official balance presented by the deputy secretary of defense on Monday, Ukraine continues to focus its main efforts on advancing in the north-eastern and eastern areas of the Kupyansk, Liman, Avdivka and Marinka fronts, in Kharkiv and Donetsk oblasts. “They are trying to encircle Avdivka and take control of Marinka,” said Maliar, also speaking of Russia’s unsuccessful attempts to retake territory in the Kharkov region on the northeastern border that had been liberated from Ukraine last fall. Ukraine with Russia.
“Russia is not giving up on its goal of penetrating to the administrative borders of Donetsk and Lugansk,” said the deputy minister, referring to the two partially occupied areas of eastern Ukraine that the Russian president, Wladimir Putin, declared part of the Russian Federation last September along with Zaporizhia and Kherson (south).
According to Maliar, one of his goals is to concentrate large numbers of Russian troops in the north-eastern part of the front They are forcing Ukraine to strengthen its defenses there by withdrawing its troops from the Bakhmut areawhere Kiev is further pushing its goal of encircling the Russian-occupied city.
Ukraine’s Deputy Defense Minister also spoke of Russia’s massive losses in men and military equipment on the country’s eastern and southern fronts, where Russia launched more than 7,600 attacks last week, Maliar said, firing more than 400,000 shells.
Ukraine’s long-awaited counteroffensive began almost three months ago. Fighting focused on trying to reach the southern coast and sever the land bridge connecting mainland Russia to Russian-occupied Crimea. But progress has been slow, raising tensions between Ukraine and its western allies, explains the Financial Times, which reports that US officials have expressed pessimism that Kiev can regain territory before rainy autumn weather will hamper the maneuverability of its forces impaired or relentless performance.
With information from Europa Press
