Latest news with #Operational-TacticalGroupDonetsk
Observer
2 days ago
- Politics
- Observer
Russian forces rapidly pierce Ukraine's lines
KYIV: Russian forces have rapidly advanced in a narrow but important sector of the front line in eastern Ukraine, Kyiv and analysts said on Tuesday, before talks between the Russian and US presidents. Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky warned ahead of the Friday meeting in Alaska between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin that Moscow was laying the groundwork for further attacks, not peace. The Ukrainian army said there had been fighting around the village of Kucheriv Yar in the Donetsk region, acknowledging new and speedy Russian gains. The Ukrainian DeepState blog, which retains close connections with the military, showed Russian advances around 10 kilometres over around two days, punching deep into a narrow sliver of Ukraine on the front. The corridor, now apparently under Russian control, threatens the town of Dobropillia, a mining hub that civilians are fleeing and that has been coming under Russian drone attacks. It also further isolates the embattled and destroyed town of Kostiantynivka, which is one of the last large urban areas in the Donetsk region still held by Ukraine. The Institute for the Study of War, a US-based observatory, said Russia was dispatching small sabotage groups forwards. It said it was "premature" to call the Russian advances in the Dobropillia area "an operational-level breakthrough". The Operational-Tactical Group Donetsk, which oversees parts of the front in the industrial region, also said Russia was probing Ukrainian lines with small sabotage groups, describing battles as "complex, unpleasant and dynamic". Trump, who is scheduled to meet Putin on Friday, has described the summit as a "feel-out meeting" to gauge the Russian leader's ideas for ending the war in Ukraine. European leaders, meanwhile, are rushing to ensure respect for Kyiv's interests. "We see that the Russian army is not preparing to end the war. On the contrary, they are making movements that indicate preparations for new offensive operations," Zelensky said in a statement on social media. Moscow's army, which attacked Ukraine in 2022, has made costly but incremental gains across the sprawling front in recent months and claims to have annexed four Ukrainian regions while still fighting to control them. Ukrainian police, meanwhile, said on Tuesday that Russian attacks in the past hours had killed three people and wounded 12 others, including a child. Meanwhile, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said on Tuesday that he did not support an EU leaders' statement on Ukraine's right to "choose its own destiny" released ahead of a US-Russia summit this week. Orban said the "only sensible action" for EU leaders was "to initiate an EU-Russia summit, based on the example of the US-Russia meeting". "Let's give peace a chance!," he said on X, describing the Trump-Putin summit as "historic". The EU leaders' "statement attempts to set conditions for a meeting to which leaders of the EU were not invited," Orban said. "The fact that the EU was left on the sidelines is sad enough as it is. The only thing that could make things worse is if we started providing instructions from the bench," he added. Orban regularly breaks EU unity on Ukraine, to which he has refused to send arms. Orban is also a Trump ally, describing the Republican president as a "dear friend". Trump, in a press conference on Monday, in turn, described Orban as "a very, very smart man", saying he asked him whether he thinks Ukraine can defeat Russia. "He looked at me like what a stupid question. He said Russia is a massive country and they win their country, they win their lives through wars," Trump added. Europe again increased its military aid to Ukraine in May and June, unlike the United States, and is depending increasingly on its defence industry rather than existing weapons stockpiles, the Kiel Institute for the World Economy said on Tuesday. Europe, the United Kingdom included, sent or earmarked a total of 80.5 billion euros ($93.7 billion) in military aid between the start of the war and the end of June 2025, against 64.6 billion euros allocated by the United States. — AFP
Int'l Business Times
2 days ago
- Politics
- Int'l Business Times
Ukraine Says Fighting 'Difficult' After Reports Of Russia's Rapid Gains
Ukraine said Tuesday it was engaged in "difficult" battles with Russian forces after Moscow had made rapid advances in a narrow but important section of the front line in the country's east. The gains came just days before US President Donald Trump was to meet Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in Alaska for talks on the war, the first meeting between a sitting US and Russian leader since 2021. The Ukrainian army said it was engaged in "heavy" battles with Russian forces attempting to penetrate its defences. "The situation is difficult and dynamic," it said in a statement. A map published by Ukrainian battlefield monitor DeepState, which has close ties with Ukraine's military, showed Russia had advanced around 10 kilometres (six miles) over around two days, deep into a narrow section of the eastern front line. The corridor -- now apparently under Russian control -- threatens the town of Dobropillia, a mining hub that civilians are fleeing and that has come under Russian drone attacks. It also further isolates the destroyed town of Kostiantynivka, one of the last large urban areas in the Donetsk region still held by Ukraine. The Institute for the Study of War, a US-based observatory, said Russia was sending small sabotage groups forwards. It said it was "premature" to call the Russian advances in around Dobropillia "an operational-level breakthrough". The military's Operational-Tactical Group Donetsk, which oversees parts of the front in the industrial region, also said Russia was probing Ukrainian lines with small sabotage groups, describing battles as "complex, unpleasant and dynamic". Trump has described his summit with Putin on Friday as a chance to check the Russian leader's ideas for ending the war. Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky warned ahead of the talks that Moscow was laying the groundwork for further attacks, after Trump said on Monday that both sides would have to swap territory for peace. European leaders have meanwhile sought to ensure respect for Kyiv's interests. "We see that the Russian army is not preparing to end the war. On the contrary, they are making movements that indicate preparations for new offensive operations," Zelensky said in a statement on social media. Russia, which invaded Ukraine in 2022, has made costly but incremental gains across the sprawling front in recent months and claims to have annexed four Ukrainian regions while still fighting to control them. Ukrainian police meanwhile said that Russian attacks in the past hours had killed three people and wounded 12 others, including a child.
Yahoo
17-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Ukrainian forces liberate 16 square kilometers near Pokrovsk in Donetsk Oblast, Syrskyi says
Ukrainian forces have liberated approximately 16 square kilometers of territory near Pokrovsk in Donetsk Oblast in recent weeks, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Oleksandr Syrskyi said on April 17. There has been a notable slowdown in Russia's offensive operations after months of steady territorial gains across eastern Ukraine. According to battlefield monitoring group DeepState, Russian troops have captured just 133 square kilometers in March, the lowest monthly total since June 2024. The recently recaptured territory by Ukrainian troops includes areas near the settlements of Udachne, Kotlyne, and Shevchenko, according to Syrskyi. He made the announcement after a three-day visit to the Operational-Tactical Group Donetsk, which he described as the strongest formation within the Armed Forces of Ukraine. "Over the course of three days, I visited almost all brigades of this most powerful grouping of the Ukrainian Defense Forces, which bears the brunt of the enemy's spring offensive and destroys its best forces and means," Syrskyi said. According to Syrskyi, Ukrainian forces are halting around 30 Russian assaults daily in the Pokrovsk sector in Donetsk Oblast, inflicting significant losses on Russian troops. During his visit, Syrskyi met with commanders at front-line command posts and reviewed operational plans with Brigadier General Oleksandr Tarnavskyi, commander of the operational-tactical group. He said that on-site problems related to logistics, ammunition supply, and combat organization were being addressed. Despite continued Russian efforts to push Ukrainian troops out of Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts and reach the administrative borders of these regions, Syrskyi said those objectives remain unfulfilled. "We continue our defensive operation, carry out counteroffensive actions, and are achieving certain successes," Syrskyi said. As of late 2024, Russian forces controlled around 60% of Donetsk Oblast and approximately 98.5% of Luhansk Oblast. Moscow does not fully control any of the four Ukrainian regions – Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson – that it illegally claimed to annex in 2022. According to media reports, including from The Moscow Times, Russia is seeking full control over these regions in the negotiations on ending the war with the United States, which started in March 2025. Read also: 'Putin believes he has the upper hand' — Ukraine braces for a new Russian spring offensive We've been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
