Ukraine said it made a further advantage on Friday during a counterattack around the hotly contested eastern city of Bachmut. Ukrainian troops may also advance towards Bachmut on Thursday.
“The enemy is continuing its attacks inside the city,” Sergei Cherevati, head of the eastern armed forces, told state television.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian forces pushed the Russians outside the town and continued to advance towards it. “The situation in Bachmoet is difficult but under control,” Cherevaty said. “We can see the enemy’s intentions, and anticipate them, prepare for them.”
Russian forces have been trying to take the strategic city of Bachmut for months, but appear to be losing momentum. They controlled much of the city which was almost completely destroyed, but Ukrainian troops have been advancing from the north and east in recent days to encircle the Russians.
Moscow is moving thousands of troops to Bachmut for reinforcement, said Ukraine’s Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar. “The enemy cannot win with quality, so he tries with quantity,” he wrote in a Facebook post. “Russian troops continued to attack with much greater losses than ours.”
Further south, in the port city of Mariupol, which has been controlled by Russia since spring, explosions were heard at the airport late Friday, Russia’s state news agency ‘Tass’ reported.
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