Kyiv (agencies)
Kiev acknowledged that the Ukrainian army is currently in a “very difficult” situation facing Russian forces that are launching attacks in eastern and southern Ukraine after taking control of the city of Avdiivka last weekend.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky visited forces near the Eastern Front yesterday, after spending the weekend in Germany trying to rally Kiev's allies, and later confirmed that the situation on the front line was still “very difficult.”
“I am happy to be here and to see you today,” Zelensky said as he presented medals to the fighting forces during a ceremony at a command center near the city of Kubyansk in the Kharkiv region.
In his daily speech, he described the situation as “very difficult in several parts of the front line,” pointing out that Russian forces are taking advantage of the delay in Western military aid to Ukraine.
Zelensky also lamented the lack of artillery, as well as front-line air defense and long-range weapons, adding, “We are working with our partners with maximum effort to resume and provide support.”
Meanwhile, Sweden announced yesterday a new record military support for Ukraine in the form of equipment worth 7.1 billion kroner, equivalent to about 633 million euros, at a time when Ukraine is suffering from a shortage of supplies.
This military aid includes artillery ammunition, warships, underwater weapons (mines and torpedoes), anti-tank missiles, hand grenades, and anti-aircraft systems, which Kiev was demanding to obtain.
The aid package, the fifteenth that Stockholm has provided to Kiev since the beginning of the crisis, comes a few days before the second anniversary of the crisis on February 24.
“The situation in Ukraine is difficult,” said the Swedish Defense Minister, who pledged to support Kiev as long as necessary.
On the ground, the Ukrainian army said yesterday that Russia launched 23 drones towards Ukraine last night, adding that the air defenses destroyed them all.
The Ukrainian army said via the Telegram application, “As a result of combat operations, all marches were shot down in the Kharkiv, Poltava, Dnipro, Zaporizhya and Mykolaiv regions.”
He explained that Russian soldiers moved to the attack in the east and south after taking control of Avdiivka, which represented their first major gain since their seizure of Bakhmut in May 2023. In the southern part of the front, “Russian forces carried out 10 attempts against Ukrainian Defense Forces positions in the village of Ropoteny.” According to what the Ukrainian army spokesman in this region, Dmytro Lykhovy, said, adding, “The situation here is changing. Russian forces are firing intense fire.”
In the Donetsk region, the Russian army strengthened its positions, especially by “completely liberating the Avdiivka coke factory,” the last sector that was controlled by the Ukrainians before their withdrawal, as Moscow announced yesterday.
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