Ukraine said on Monday its forces had liberated the southeastern settlement of Robotyne and were trying to push further south in their counteroffensive against Russian forces.
Ukraine’s military said last week that its troops had raised the national flag at the strategic settlement, but were still conducting mopping-up operations.
Ukrainian troops believe they have broken through Russia’s toughest defenses in the south and they will now begin to advance faster, a commander who led troops to Robotyne told Reuters last week.
“Robotyne has been released,” Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar was quoted as saying by the military.
The settlement is located 10 km (six miles) south of the front-line town of Orikhiv in the Zaporizhzhia region on a key road to Tokmak, a Russian-occupied road and rail hub.
The capture of Tokmak will be a key milestone as Ukrainian forces move south towards the Sea of Azov in a military effort aimed at splitting Russian forces following a full-scale invasion of Moscow in February 2022.
Maliar told Ukrainian television that Kyiv troops, who began their counteroffensive in early June, were now moving southeast of Robotyne and south of nearby Mala Tokmachka.
Ukrainian soldiers of the ‘Skala’ Separate Assault Battalion enter the village of Robotyne, Zaporizhzhia region, Ukraine.via REUTERS
Ukraine’s success in recapturing Robotyne, which has not been confirmed by Russia, follows media reports of a meeting between senior NATO military chiefs and Ukraine’s top generals this month on resetting Ukraine’s military strategy.
‘Very hot’ on the eastern front
Ukrainian troops are also fighting Russian forces in eastern Ukraine, and progress has been slower than widely expected in counterattacks as they have encountered vast Russian minefields and trenches.
Maliar described the battlefield situation in the east as “very hot” in the past week.
A Ukrainian soldier walks near a destroyed Ukrainian tank, as the Russian offensive on Ukraine continues, near the village of Robotyne.REUTERS
He said the Russian army is gathering new forces there and regrouping, and Moscow aims to deploy its best troops there.
Ukrainian troops continued to advance south of Bakhmut, he said, referring to the nearly destroyed eastern city captured by Moscow forces in May after months of fierce fighting.
He added that in the past week Ukrainian forces have recaptured 1 square km (0.39 square miles) around Bakhmut, and Russian forces have not made any progress.
Ukrainian soldiers raise the national flag at the settlement of Robotyne.Valerii Zaluzhnyi via REUTERS
In the latest of frequent Russian airstrikes in Ukraine, two people were killed overnight when a vegetable oil plant was hit in the central Hijrah region, the region’s governor said.
Russia said it had shot down a Ukrainian drone flying toward Moscow early Monday morning, in an incident that briefly disrupted flights in the Russian capital.
Reuters could not immediately confirm the situation on the battlefield regarding the latest attack report.
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
