General Oleksander Tarnavskyi, who is in charge of Ukrainian forces in the south, said on Saturday that his soldiers were ”systematically moving the enemy out of their positions,” as part of Ukraine’s summer counteroffensive, the Reuters news agency reported.
Russia lost at least 200 soldiers in the previous 24 hours, Gen Tarnavskyi also wrote on the Telegram social messaging app.
Earlier in the day, Ukraine’s General Staff said that Moscow had suffered a total of 590 combat deaths over the past day and night.
At the same time, Ukraine’s operation designed to break through Russian defences in the south and split Moscow’s army in two has so far turned out to be “very difficult,” according to a military analyst.
Serhiy Hrabskyi told Ukrainian NV radio: "In the south, the situation is very difficult in advancing towards Berdyansk."
Ukraine is hoping to reclaim Berdyansk, a port on the Sea of Azov in the southeastern Zaporizhzhia region, in order to cut off a land bridge that Russian troops have established with the annexed Crimean Peninsula, according to Reuters.
Hrabskyi added: "They are moving on the village of Robotyne. The enemy is offering resistance to stop our advance southward," as quoted by Britain’s private broadcaster Sky News.
Meanwhile, Russia’s Defence Ministry said in its daily report on Saturday that its troops had repelled 16 Ukrainian attacks on the eastern front, including near the long-contested town of Maryinka and in the strategic village of Klishchiivka, on the southern fringe of Bakhmut, in the Donetsk region, the Reuters news agency reported.
Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, 2022, launching the largest military campaign in Europe since World War II.
Saturday is day 507 of Russia’s war on Ukraine.
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Source: Reuters, Sky News, The Guardian