Russian forces push around Bakhmut, Ukrainian forces – on the eastern bank of the Dnieper

Yesterday, Ukrainian forces were engaged in holding back increasing Russian attacks around the destroyed city of Bakhmut in the eastern part of the country, reports “Reuters”.

Officials also indicate that Ukrainian troops have achieved some success after crossing the eastern bank of the Dnieper River in the Kherson region.

Russia has focused on Ukraine’s eastern regions after its forces failed to advance on Kiev in the early days of the invasion in February 2022. However, their progress has been slow.

Ukrainian forces also won back some ground in their five-month counteroffensive in the east and south.

Russian forces captured Bakhmut in eastern Donetsk in May after months of heavy fighting that reduced the city to ruins.

Volodymyr Fityo, a spokesman for the Ukrainian ground forces, indicated that Russian troops have concentrated their attacks on Klishcheevka – a village near the heights recaptured by Ukrainian forces in September.

“The Russian occupation forces gathered the necessary reserves and went on the attack,” he pointed out and added that a total of 11 attacks have been repelled in the last 24 hours. The enemy is trying to dislodge our people from the defensive positions around Klishcheevka, Fitio warned.

According to Moscow’s information, the Russian forces are repelled over 30 Ukrainian attacks in and around Bakhmut in the last week. The Russian Defense Ministry reported more than two dozen attacks near Kupyansk in northeastern Ukraine in a week.

Fighting in the east is also centered around another war-ravaged town, Avdeevka, which is still in Ukrainian hands after 20 months of fighting and over a month of Russian attacks.

Military analyst Sergey Zgurets said Russian forces were trying to launch a new offensive against the city, known for its huge coke plant.

“To be honest, the enemy’s attempts to surround Avdeevka led to significant losses for him,” he claimed.

The military spokesman Andriy Kovalev announced that Ukrainian forces have “carried out several successful and effective actions” on the east bank of the Dnieper almost a week after military officials acknowledged their presence there.

Russian forces are making up to 10 daily attempts to push back Ukrainian forces from positions on the east bank of the river and are building up reserves, he noted.

Russian troops withdrew from the west coast on the river and the regional center of the Kherson region a year ago, but have since been shelling their abandoned positions from areas across the river.