In its latest operational update, published on Wednesday, Ukraine’s military command wrote: “The enemy tries to restore the offensive in the direction of Donetsk-Pisky, fighting continues.”
The Ukrainian General Staff added that Russian forces continued to shell settlements in eastern and southern Ukraine.
Russian-Belarusian exercises until Thursday
Meanwhile, Russia and Belarus were holding joint military drills, which were expected to last until Thursday, according to Ukraine’s military command.
The Ukrainian General Staff warned of a continued threat of Russian rocket attacks and air strikes on Ukraine’s western Volhynia and Polissia regions "from the direction of Belarus."
Fighting in Donetsk and Luhansk, north and south
It further reported that in the eastern Donetsk Oblast, Russian forces launched attacks near Mariinka, Avdiivka and Krasnohorivka, as well as Bakhmut and Vuhledar, among other settlements.
Ukraine’s military command added: “The enemy led the attack in the directions of Mineralne-Avdiivka and Spartak-Avdiivka. It had no success, suffered losses and withdrew.”
In next-door Luhansk Oblast, Ukrainian forces on Tuesday repelled three Russian attacks, according to local authorities.
Russian troops also shelled numerous settlements in the northeastern Kharkiv Oblast and frontline settlements in southern Ukraine, the Ukrainian General Staff said.
Ukraine denies responsibility for Crimea explosions
A senior Ukrainian official said the government in Kyiv bore no responsibility for a series of powerful explosions that hit the Novofedorivka military air base in the Russian-controlled Crimea peninsula on Tuesday.
Mykhailo Podolyak, an adviser to President Volodymyr Zelensky, said the blasts could have been “the work of partisan saboteurs,” the Reuters news agency reported.
Speaking in an interview with the independent Russian Dozhd online television channel, Podolyak cited “Russian incompetence” as a possible cause of the explosions, which killed one civilian and injured eight, according to the health department in Russia-annexed Crimea.
Ukrainian counteroffensive near Izyum?
Meanwhile, the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) reported that “the Ukrainian General Staff made no mention of Izyum in its 1800 situational report on August 9, nor did other prominent Ukrainian sources despite Western sources’ claims of an ongoing Ukrainian counteroffensive in this area.”
In its latest analysis of the war in Ukraine, published on Tuesday night, the US-based think tank said that although Western media reported on a Ukrainian counterattack near the eastern city, “the Ukrainian General Staff was notably completely silent about the area in its evening report.”
Assessing the latest frontline developments, the ISW wrote that Russian forces “conducted ground attacks to the southeast of Siversk and around Bakhmut” as well as “north of Donetsk City and southwest of Donetsk City near the Zaporizhia-Donetsk Oblast border.”
Russian forces continue to strike from Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant
The US experts added that, according to Ukrainian officials, Russian troops “continued to fire artillery systems from the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant.”
The ISW also reported that “Russia launched an Iranian satellite into orbit on August 9 that could be used to provide military intelligence on Ukraine.”
Meanwhile, Russian officials were "continuing to take prominent roles in preparing for the sham referenda in Russian-occupied regions despite Kremlin claims that Russia is not conducting the referenda,” the US-based think tank warned.
Wednesday is day 168 of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
(pm/gs)
Source: PAP, facebook.com/GeneralStaff.ua, pravda.com.ua, Reuters, understandingwar.org