Russia steps up activity in the Zaporizhzhia direction, hoping to reclaim positions lost in Ukraine’s 2023 counteroffensive – military

He said this on Espreso TV.

"If we talk about the operational situation in the Zaporizhzhia direction, Russian activity has slightly decreased. A week ago, the Russians were ramping up their efforts in this area. This kind of activity was expected and is happening against the backdrop of growing geopolitical tensions. The intensity of Russian assault operations was significantly higher compared to previous weeks and even months. This gave some Russian military bloggers and some of our so-called ‘colleagues’ a reason to claim that Russia was about to launch a full-scale offensive in the Zaporizhzhia direction. That was not the case," Bratchuk said.

According to him, Russian forces have not made any progress in the Zaporizhzhia direction and are unable to form a strike group for large-scale operations.

"In the area controlled by the 58th Combined Arms Army of the Russian Federation, which includes the Orikhiv and Hulyaipole directions, units of an airborne assault regiment and a motorized rifle division are operating. Statistically, this Russian activity is just localized skirmishes. There is no enemy advance, and there cannot be. It's clear that the Russians aim to retake positions they lost during Ukraine's 2023 counteroffensive. However, the settlements of Stepove, Mali Shcherbaky, and Shcherbaky have been completely destroyed. Russia also intends to target our logistics in this area. Over the past day, it has become evident that the Russians are losing momentum. How long this will last is unclear, but either way, they lack the resources for a major offensive in the Zaporizhzhia direction, let alone to form a shock group for large-scale combat operations," he added.

• On March 18, Serhiy Zgurets, director of the defense analysis firm Defense Express, reported that Russian forces had intensified their actions in the Zaporizhzhia direction.
• On March 23, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported 147 combat clashes on the Russian-Ukrainian front in a single day. The most concentrated Russian attacks were recorded in the Pokrovsk and Kursk directions.