Editor's note: The article was updated on April 29 with additional information on developments in Kherson Oblast.
Ukrainian troops have retreated west from the villages of Berdychi, Semenivka, and Novomykhailivka in Donetsk Oblast, the Commander-in-Chief of Ukraine's Armed Forces Oleksandr Syrskyi said on April 28.
Berdychi, Semenivka, and Novomykhailivka villages are located in the Pokrovsk District in the western part of Ukraine's Donetsk Oblast, which remains one of the hottest sectors of the front line as Russia continues its offensive.
The Khortytsia Group of Ukraine's Ground Forces reported on April 27 that Russian forces managed to break in and gain a foothold in a part of Ocheretyne, a front-line village nearly 10 kilometers from Berdychi and Semenivka.
Syrskyi described the situation in the Pokrovsk and Kurakhove sectors as "the most difficult one" now.
According to the commander-in-chief, Russia is involving up to four brigades (from 8,000 to 32,000 personnel) to conduct assault operations in the direction of the cities of Pokrovsk and Kurakhove west of Avdiivka, which was captured in February.
"In general, the enemy has succeeded tactically in these directions but has failed to achieve an operational advantage," Syrskyi said in a statement shared on Facebook and Telegram, adding that Ukraine will do unit rotations in this sector of the front.
Syrskyi stressed that Russian troops were attacking the entire front line. The situation is changing "dynamically," he added.
Russian forces continue their offensive operations in the directions of Kupiansk and Lyman settlements in Kharkiv Oblast, as well as in the Siversk, Sloviansk, and Kramatorsk sectors in Donetsk Oblast, according to the commander-in-chief.
Syrskyi said that the situation in the south also remains "intense" as Russia tries to advance near the village of Krynky in Kherson Oblast, Robotyne and Verbove villages in Zaporizhzhia Oblast, and Staromayorske in Donetsk Oblast.
Ukrainian forces reportedly achieved some success in Kherson Oblast, establishing control over the island of Nestryha, which lies in the Dnipro River delta and has been long considered a "gray zone." Kyiv's troops also advanced in the Veletenske area, Syrskyi said.
Martin Fornusek
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