Kyiv Claims Advance But Admits Russia’s ‘Strong Resistance’

Ukraine this Thursday announced progress in the counteroffensive, but acknowledged that Russian forces were putting up “strong resistance”, especially in the south of the country.

Ukrainian Deputy Defense Minister Anna Malyar said that over the past 10 days, Kyiv forces have advanced “more than three kilometers” in the eastern region of Bakhmut.

“We recorded the movement of the enemy airborne assault unit from the south, exactly in the direction of Bakhmut,” Malyar explained at a press conference, according to the Ukrainian agency Ukrinform.

Malyar said the Russians had concentrated troops and military equipment in the Bakhmut area “to stop the advance” of Ukrainian forces.

“The enemy cannot advance in this zone and cannot effectively deter the Armed Forces of Ukraine,” he said.

In the south, there was a “gradual but final advance” of the Ukrainian army, despite the fact that “the enemy put up strong resistance,” said the deputy defense minister, who was also quoted by the French news agency AFP.

Mallyar said Ukrainian forces faced heavy artillery fire in the south and ran into minefields.

In recent days, Russia has said it has destroyed between 25% and 30% of Western weapons received by Ukraine and has released photos and videos of damaged or abandoned American and German tanks.

Information about the course of the war, declared by Ukrainians and Russians, cannot be immediately verified by independent sources.

The only certainty is that, faced with minefields and ferocious artillery, Ukrainian forces are expected to take casualties as they try to break through Russian defense lines, AFP reported.

Kyiv lost four German Leopard tanks, two French reconnaissance tanks and more than 70 Western infantry fighting vehicles, according to Oryx, a specialized website that uses photos and videos taken on the battlefield.

“The battle will undoubtedly get tougher,” said Jack Watling of the British think tank Royal United Services Institute (RUSI), quoted by AFP.

“For Ukraine’s international partners, the summer is likely to be very uncomfortable. The casualties will rise and progress will take time,” he warned.

The RUSI expert considered the training programs for its units and the mobilization of the defense industry “to provide Ukraine with military equipment in the long term” vital for Ukraine.

Despite Europe’s efforts to speed up the pace of production, some countries have already warned of restrictions.

“We will not be able to replace all failed tanks,” German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said on Monday.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg on Thursday insisted on the need to provide the Ukrainians with “the necessary weapons and supplies to continue the offensive.”

This issue will be at the center of the Ukraine Contact Group meeting in Brussels on Thursday with the participation of defense industrialists ahead of the meeting of the Alliance defense ministers.