Ukraine’s military command provided the latest updates on the frontline situation via Facebook on Thursday night and Friday morning.
Ukrainian forces are continuing “an offensive operation in the Melitopol direction,” in Zaporizhzhia, as well as “assault operations in the Bakhmut direction,” in the eastern Donetsk province, Ukraine’s General Staff said.
Ukrainian troops are “inflicting losses in manpower and equipment on the occupying forces, consolidating their positions and exhausting Russian troops,” according to military officials in Kyiv.
In all, there were a total of 64 combat clashes between Ukrainian and Russian forces on Thursday, the General Staff in Kyiv said.
Ukraine’s troops successfully repelled 28 Russian attacks in various directions in the course of the day, the Ukrainian Espreso TV website reported.
Russian strikes
Russia on Thursday launched four missile attacks, 65 air strikes and 54 attacks with multiple-launch rocket systems against Ukrainian troops as well as populated areas, Espreso TV reported.
These attacks resulted in loss of life and in injuries among the civilian population, as well as damage and destruction of private homes and other civilian infrastructure, according to Ukraine’s General Staff.
In the Donetsk region alone, Russian shelling killed two people and injured seven others, Ukraine’s state news agency Ukrinform reported.
A Russian attack killed one civilian in the southern Kherson region, with the regional capital Kherson City also targeted, causing destruction to a building housing a children’s hospital and to university facilities, according to Espreso TV.
Ukrainian strikes
Meanwhile, Ukraine’s missile units on Thursday destroyed a Russian control centre, a concentration of Russian personnel, weapons and military equipment, and 10 pieces of Russian artillery, the General Staff in Kyiv said.
In addition, Ukraine’s air force conducted 12 strikes on concentrations of Russian personnel, weapons and military equipment, as well as three attacks on Russian command posts and four attacks on Russian anti-aircraft missile systems, according to Ukrainian military officials.
Ukrainian forces on Thursday also blew up an important road bridge in the Russian-occupied part of the Donetsk region, according to the Ukrinform news agency.
Petro Andriushchenko, an aide to the mayor of the city of Mariupol, wrote on the Telegram social messaging app: "The bridge between Yasynuvata and Horlivka got a little tired. Not without the intervention of the inevitable force of retaliation from the Armed Forces of Ukraine.“
The official added: “This greatly complicates the logistics of the occupiers.” He attached a photo of the destroyed bridge.
In its latest counteroffensive against Russia, Ukraine is pushing through Zaporizhzhia in the southeast, in a bid to reach the port of Melitopol on the Sea of Azov, as well as seeking to retake Bakhmut in the eastern Donetsk province, among other objectives.
Friday is day 597 of Russia’s war on Ukraine.
Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, 2022, launching the largest military campaign in Europe since World War II.
(pm/gs)
Source: Espreso TV, Ukrinform, ISW, facebook.com/GeneralStaff.ua
