Last minutes and live news about Russia’s war in Ukraine

Ukrainian soldiers fire artillery in the direction of Bakhmut, Donetsk region, Ukraine, August 1. (Photo: Diego Herrera Carcedo/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images)

The Ukrainian army claims to have inflicted “significant losses” on Russian troops on the Eastern Front, preventing any advance.

The representative of the General Staff, Pavel Kovalchuk, said that the Ukrainian units “continue to slow down the offensive of the Russian troops in the Kupyansk and Liman directions.”

“In the direction of Bakhmut, the Defense Forces are strengthening their positions. Fierce fighting continues,” he added.

Maxim Zhorin, the interim commander of the 3rd Airborne Assault Brigade, which took an active part in the battles near Bakhmut, said on Wednesday that “extremely heavy daily battles” are taking place near the city.

The Ukrainians tried to occupy the high ground south of the city.

“This area remains extremely important and promising for the enemy. Bakhmut is still considered by the enemy as an important point from which to continue the offensive, ”said Zhorin.
“The most combat-ready Russian units are being transferred here in order to first stop our offensive, hold it back, and then go on the offensive. But these are nothing more than dreams: so far they have not succeeded in this at the initial stages, ”he added. .

The commander of the Ukrainian Ground Forces, Colonel General Alexander Syrsky, assured on Thursday that “while the enemy continues an active offensive in the Kupyansk and Liman directions, our troops daily disrupt his plans to break through our defenses, inflicting significant losses in manpower and equipment.”

The General Staff said that Russian attempts to launch an offensive in the Donetsk region, especially in the Avdiivka and Maryinka regions, were repulsed.

Kovalchuk said that in the south, the offensive continues in the Berdyansk and Melitopol directions, while the Ukrainian units “consolidate their positions.”

Meanwhile, he also said that in the occupied city of Energodar, Russians are forcing workers at the nearby Zaporozhye nuclear power plant to apply for Russian passports, “otherwise they are threatened with reprisals.”