Major offensive may start from Bakhmut – Freedom Battalion fighter Lysenko

He said this on the air of the Espreso TV channel.

"Terrible fighting continues in Bakhmut. Khromove and Chasiv Yar are ours. Defence forces are successfully fighting and have advanced 3 km in the area of Klishchiyivka and Ozerianivka. This is important because we will be able to get to the rear of the southern wing, which enters Bakhmut from the south, which allows us to completely surround Bakhmut," explained Lysenko.

According to the soldier, the Ukrainian Defense Forces found and bombed huge enemy depots with chemical weapons. A large number of enemy manpower was also destroyed.

"Perhaps, a major offensive will start from the Bakhmut direction or from the Lyman direction, with the west into Luhansk region to Lysychansk. Now everyone is waiting and there must be some kind of surprise. The enemy is already withdrawing its troops in many areas. We have areas where the enemy can be attacked. In some time, perhaps by the end of this month, we will have concrete results and we will have something to be proud of," emphasised Lysenko.

• The 72nd Separate Motorized Rifle Brigade of the Russian Federation, whose units were defeated near Bakhmut, has previously suffered two crushing defeats in Kharkiv and Kherson regions.

• The German newspaper Bild reports that Ukrainian army units have shocked the Russian military leadership with a sudden offensive in the Russian-occupied Donetsk region.