Even though Kyiv said Moscow’s assault was slowing near Bakhmut, Russian troops assaulted northern and southern Donbas on Friday.
Ukrainian military reports recorded severe combat along a line from Lyman to Kupiansk and in the south at Avdiivka near Donetsk.
Russia’s winter effort to seize Ukraine’s industrialized Donbas region has targeted both locations. But, despite thousands of deaths on both sides, the attack has made little progress.
Ukrainian artillery in thick pine trees behind the northern front fired 155 mm rounds from a French TRF-1 howitzer against a Kreminna supply route.
“Luckily we are keeping the same position,” a “Greenwich” soldier told Reuters. “Because we face a formidable opponent with good armaments. Airborne soldiers are professionals.”
The team maneuvered around the cannon, removed camouflage, aimed, loaded, and fired when the coordinates arrived. After three rounds, they lowered the barrel, covered it, and returned to woodland bunkers awaiting instructions. But, again, artillery and small weapons fire were audible.
Despite the continuous battle, the front lines have remained unchanged since November. Ukraine regained land in the second half of 2022 but has since been on the defensive as Russia has invaded with hundreds of thousands of newly called-up reservists and jail inmates.
As winter changes to spring in Ukraine, the fundamental issue is how long Russia can maintain its onslaught and when or if Ukraine can counterattack.
On Thursday, the commander of Ukrainian ground troops claimed Russia’s assault on Bakhmut, a tiny city at the center of the war’s greatest fight, looked to be fading, and Kyiv may go on the attack “very soon.”
Comment Template