Russian troops are trying to break through Ukraine's defenses and reach the towns of Pokrovsk and Kurakhove in Donetsk Oblast, Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi said on May 6.
Russia is carrying out intense attacks in multiple sections of the eastern front, which covers much of Donetsk Oblast, after it captured the city of Avdiivka in February.
Russian forces have been focusing their efforts near Chasiv Yar, which they see as crucial for further advances toward Kostiantynivka, Kramatorsk, and Sloviansk, the Ukrainian military reported in March.
Syrskyi said he had spent two days working with units deployed in Ukraine's east in the Pokrovsk and Kurakhove sectors, which he called Russia's "main attack direction."
"The main enemy's attack forces are concentrated here with attempts to break through the defense of our troops and, after building on their success, reach the towns of Kurakhove and Pokrovsk," the general said.
Outnumbered and outgunned, Ukrainian soldiers face daily attacks by Russian troops, according to Syrskyi.
The commander said he had met with brigade commanders and other officers and "made
all the necessary decisions to strengthen the defense with reserves, to allocate additional missiles, ammunition, electronic warfare equipment, and unmanned aerial vehicles."
"Our task in these conditions is to hold frontiers and positions, to inflict maximum losses on the enemy, to exhaust them, thereby disrupting the enemy's plans and gaining time to form and prepare our reserves," Syrskyi added.
Ukrainian troops retreated in late April west from the villages of Berdychi, Semenivka, and Novomykhailivka in Donetsk Oblast. The Khortytsia Group of Ukraine's Ground Forces said that Russian forces also managed to break in and gain a foothold in a part of the village of Ocheretyne in the region.
Kyrylo Budanov, the chief of Ukraine's military intelligence agency (HUR), said that Ukraine should expect to face a renewed Russian offensive in late spring or early summer, with the offensive intensifying around the eastern Donbas region.
Russia aims to completely occupy Donetsk, Luhansk, and, if possible, Zaporizhzhia oblasts in 2024, said Oleksandr Pavliuk, Ukraine's Ground Forces Commander.
Francis Farrell
