We are advancing gradually in Bakhmut, and we are trying to maintain our positions

Ukraine announced Sunday that it is making progress near the city of Bakhmut The east of the country, which Russian forces took control of last May.

Deputy Defense Minister Hana Maliar said via Telegram: “We are making gradual progress in the Bakhmut region. There is daily progress in the southern side around Bakhmut. On the northern side, we are trying to maintain our positions (because) the enemy is attacking,” according to AFP.

Maliar also revealed that its forces are in a defensive position in the face of Russian forces near the city of Kobyansk, east of the country.

She also explained that, “For two days, the enemy launched heavy attacks in the Kobyansk sector in the Kharkiv region. We are in a defensive position,” adding that “fierce battles are taking place, and locations change repeatedly in one day.”

Not successful

He was the Russian president Vladimir Putin He noted earlier that the Ukrainian army’s counteroffensive, which began in June, had not achieved success in confronting Russian defenses in eastern and southern Ukraine.

“All the enemy’s attempts to penetrate our defense, using strategic stockpiles in particular, did not succeed during the duration of the attack. The enemy did not achieve success,” Putin said in an interview with Russia 1 TV channel broadcast on Sunday.

He also stressed that the situation of the Russian forces on the front is “positive,” explaining that “our forces are behaving heroically. In a way that the opponent did not expect, that they even attack in certain sectors and control more important sites.”

He advances slowly

It is noteworthy that the head of the Ukrainian presidential administration, Andrei Yermak, had admitted on Friday that the counterattack to Kiev “is not making rapid progress,” stressing that the Western allies are not exerting pressure on Kiev in this regard.

The Ukrainian counter-offensive, which began in June, backed by heavy weapons provided by the West, progressed slowly against the Russian forces, who had plenty of time to set up strong defences, especially laying minefields, while possessing significant firepower to bombard Ukrainian forces.