The Russian Defence Ministry has stressed that reports of breaches in the Russian frontline defences in the Ukraine war “have nothing to do with the reality”.
“The statements issued by individual Telegram channels about the ‘defence breaches’ on specific parts of the frontline have nothing to do with the reality of the situation,” the statement reads.
The ministry claims that no active combat operations are taking place on the Kupiansk, Lyman, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson directions, while Russian troops managed to “foil three enemy attempts to conduct reconnaissance in combat” on the Donetsk axis. At the same time, fighting continues for Bakhmut and Maloilinivka while the Russian military is trying to block Avdiivka and take Marinka, the press release said.
Previously, Russia’s military bloggers and pro-war Telegram channels issued a barrage of statements, saying that Ukraine’s long-awaited counteroffensive had begun.
“Counteroffensive, in one form or another, has begun. There is a significant intensification on the Kharkiv-Belgorod axis. […] On the Bakhmut-Soledar axis, all actions are currently limited to reconnaissance by force, with occasionally successful cases,” the Rybar Telegram channel reported.
Many channels noted that Ukrainian military vehicle columns had been moving along the bypass road from Kharkiv towards Russia’s Belgorod region throughout the day.
It was also claimed that the Ukrainian army had increased pressure on Russia’s military positions in Bakhmut. Alexander Simonov particularly reported frontline breaches in Ivanovske, Klishchiivka, Bohdanivka, Berkhivka, and Yahidne. It was reported that Russian forces had abandoned these positions. “Unfortunately, in some areas, [Ukrainian troops] manage to occupy the positions that were dearly won by us,” claims Kots.
According to Yevgeny Poddubny, an attempt to break through near Soledar was made. “In the Soludar area, the enemy, supported by armoured groups each consisting of two or three tanks, managed to mount a breakthrough attempt with several units. Currently, the militants of the Ukrainian Armed Forces are attempting to consolidate their positions. The situation is difficult,” he wrote.
Kyiv has not issued any official comments.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky earlier told the BBC that Kyiv needs more time to launch its long-awaited counteroffensive because Ukraine is expecting arms supplies pledged by the West.
“With [what we already have] we can go forward, and, I think, be successful,” he stressed. “But we’d lose a lot of people. I think that’s unacceptable. So we need to wait. We still need a bit more time.”
