Ukraine's Huliaipole faces 'critical' situation — general

Retired Lieutenant General Ihor Romanenko, founder of the Close the Sky of Ukraine Charitable Foundation, stated this on Espreso TV.

"The situation is difficult. In Huliaipole, it's probably critical, in my opinion. The entire city is a gray zone, with units of the Ukrainian Defense Forces trying to hold positions on the western outskirts. The Russian army is advancing further, encircling the city mostly from the south. So the situation there is critical, I would say," he said.

Ihor Romanenko noted that the Russian troops are also attempting to capture the city of Stepnohirsk in the Orikhiv direction.

"The Orikhiv direction is also in the Zaporizhzhia region. To the west, the Russian forces have already advanced to Stepnohirsk. They're also working to encircle this city, while some forces have moved even further north of Prymorske. Intense fighting is ongoing there, and there's a threat of Stepnohirsk being captured. Therefore, reserves are needed to stabilize the situation. They tried to find them, then deployed our assault regiments, but this only stopped the advance. They weren't fully able to accomplish this, and so the situation there has deteriorated," he added.