Russia attempts to seize Ukraine’s Chasiv Yar with troop surge — Ukraine's 24th Brigade

Andriy Polukhin, spokesperson for Ukraine's 24th Mechanized Brigade, said this on Espreso TV.

"I cannot say anything regarding the [Russian] summer-autumn campaign. We have one campaign: the Russians try daily to fully occupy the city of Chasiv Yar. They really use manpower and have an advantage in it, trying to exploit that. However, our guys effectively counter this strategy. Our troops use drones and minefields, which makes most Russian assaults unsuccessful. The Russians attempt mechanized assaults to reinforce the city center with manpower for offensive actions. But our guys conduct excellent reconnaissance and accurately strike Russian concentration points, so, basically, the defense holds," he said.

Andriy Polukhin noted that very few people remain in the city, and Russian forces use any buildings as cover.

“Many have left; very few people remain there. The Russians basically use any building as cover. Our positions also mostly depend on shelters as low underground as possible, including city buildings. Of course, we use this terrain to our advantage. It is quite difficult for Russian troops to conduct combat operations in urban areas because, as they are detected by drones and not only our infantry can see and destroy them. Also, during movements, the Russians can, as has happened several times, be captured by our fighters when a Russian soldier, so to speak, enters our guys’ positions and is met with a surprise — our troops. Therefore, Russian invaders basically use all buildings to advance or try to advance again,” he added.

• On June 18, 163 combat clashes were recorded along the Russian-Ukrainian front. In the Pokrovsk sector, Ukrainian defenders repelled 48 Russian assaults.