Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that Ukraine's armed forces are inflicting significant losses on Russian units in a counteroffensive in the Donetsk region, which has remained the main theater of hostilities for more than three and a half years, reports “Reuters“, quoted by News.bg.
In his traditional evening video address, Zelensky indicated that he had spoken for nearly an hour with Commander-in-Chief General Oleksandr Syrsky, with special emphasis placed on the operation in the Dobropolye region - a direction where Ukrainian forces are conducting offensive operations. "Our soldiers are inflicting serious losses on the enemy," the president said.
Dobropolye is located north of the Pokrovsk logistics center, one of the main targets of Russia's slow westward advance through Donetsk region. Zelensky stressed that Ukrainian forces were defending themselves on all other fronts, mentioning in particular Kupyansk, an almost completely destroyed city in northeastern Ukraine that has been under intense Russian attacks for months.
The president also described the situation as "difficult" around Novopavlivka in Zaporizhia region, but said "active defensive actions are yielding good results."
Zelensky's statements contrasted with Russian President Vladimir Putin's statement made a day earlier to senior military officials in the St. Petersburg region. Putin said Russian forces held the strategic initiative on all fronts and had regained nearly 5,000 sq km of territory in Ukraine by 2025.
Russia said on Wednesday it had taken control of the village of Novogrigorivka in southern Zaporizhia region, part of a near-daily Russian announcement of captured towns.
At the same time, Ukrainian authorities reported new Russian attacks on civilian areas. The governor of Kherson region said three people had been killed in shelling in and around the city of Kherson, while in Sumy region, on the northern border with Russia, three others had been killed in drone strikes.
The information from the battlefield could not be independently confirmed, Reuters notes.