Commander: Situation on eastern front difficult as Russia conducts offensives in 3 sectors
The situation on Ukraine's eastern front remains difficult as Russian forces continue offensive operations in the Kupiansk, Lyman, and Bakhmut directions, Colonel General Oleksandr Syrskyi said on Jan. 11.
"Despite the large-scale offensive actions of the enemy, our soldiers firmly hold the defensive lines in all directions and inflict significant losses on the enemy," the commander of the Ukrainian ground forces reported on Telegram.
According to Syrskyi, the "occupiers keep trying to push our units out of the Kupiansk forest and capture Synkivka, aiming to cut off Kupiansk."
"Thanks to our defenders, the enemy is suffering significant losses," Syrskyi said, adding that Russia is nevertheless increasing its efforts at the expense of its manpower.
The northeastern city of Kupiansk in Kharkiv Oblast was liberated from Russian occupation during a surprise counteroffensive in the autumn of 2022. The Ukrainian military has recently warned that Moscow aims to capture it again.
According to the U.S.-based think tank Institute for the Study of War (ISW), Russia may intensify localized attacks with fresh troops in the Kupiansk sector in the next few weeks.
In the Lyman direction, Moscow's troops are concentrating efforts in the Serebrianskyi forest area and launching unsuccessful attacks in the directions of Dibrova, Torske, and Yampil, Syrskyi said.
They are also trying to push Ukrainian defenders beyond the Chornyi Zherebets River with the support of artillery and fresh assault troops deployed from Russia, he added.
Near occupied Bakhmut, Russia is making "every effort to cross the Siverskyi Donets-Donbas canal," according to Syrskyi.
Russia is attacking Bohdanivka from the north of the city and trying to "create favorable conditions for the offensive on Chasiv Yar and to restore the lost positions near lakes east of Klishchiivka and Kurdiumivka," the general said.
Francis Farrell
