Ukraine's counteroffensive: successes in Bakhmut sector and in South

Ukraine’s Deputy Minister of Defense Hanna Maliar shared the information on the United News telethon.

She noted that the main directions of Russia’s offensive are in the east of Ukraine, heavy fighting is taking place there.

"As for the Bakhmut direction, the news is now coming from the southern flank and the northern flank. If you look at the map, it looks like a horseshoe around Bakhmut," says Maliar.

According to her, on the northern flank, Russia is trying to drive Ukrainian troops out of their positions. After all, the Ukrainian Armed Forces have occupied key dominant heights there and are "annoying the enemy."

"And the enemy is actually trapped there. Because they can't leave Bakhmut and make a full advance there. That's why they are trying to storm this northern flank to knock out our troops. The enemy is not succeeding, but the fighting there is also fierce," said the deputy minister.

At the same time, Ukrainian troops on the southern flank around Bakhmut advanced another 3 square kilometers last week.

"Together, we can talk about 43 square kilometers around Bakhmut or on the flanks of Bakhmut being liberated," added Maliar.

Ukrainian Defense Forces gain success in Robotyne and Mala Tokmachka areas of the Zaporizhzhia region

"Our units succeeded in the area southeast of Robotyne and south of Mala Tokmachka in the Zaporizhzhia region. The enemy tried to regain the lost positions east of Robotyne, Zaporizhzhia region, but to no avail," Maliar wrote on Telegram. 

According to her, planned combat operations are currently underway in Robotyne.

"The situation in the south has not changed significantly. At the same time, our Armed Forces continue offensive actions on the Melitopol and Berdyansk directions. As you know, our defenders face very serious obstacles and defense from the enemy there. They are trying to reduce this defense and the potential of the Russian army in every possible way to make it easier to advance," the Deputy Defense Minister noted.

Russian forces have fortified the area with mines and concrete. They are pulling up their professional units, paratroopers and military equipment, which the Ukrainian military are destroying very effectively.

Over the past week, the Ukrainian Armed Forces destroyed 18 Russian tanks, 29 armored combat vehicles, artillery systems, mortars, and even one Ka-52 helicopter in the southern direction.

"That is, the enemy is essentially unable to carry out a full-fledged defense there, and our Defense Forces are weakening it in order to move forward," stated Maliar.

Russian troops are regrouping in the Lyman and Kupyansk directions and dealing with the aftermath of recent clashes

Maliar said that the situation in the Kupyansk sector is difficult. In particular, Russian troops are shelling the city of Kupyansk. The fighting continues, but Ukrainian defenders are putting up a strong fight.

"If you look at the numbers, it may seem that the number of attacks and battles in the Lyman and Kupyansk directions has decreased over the past week. But in fact, the enemy does not abandon its plans to move forward there. It is just regrouping and additionally pulling up forces there," she said.

The deputy minister reminded that over the past two weeks, Russian troops have become more active in these areas, but the Ukrainian Armed Forces have been stopping them. According to Maliar, Russian forces are now just "licking their wounds." As a result, their recent activity has somewhat subsided, but this doesn't necessarily imply a complete halt to their actions. Therefore, Ukrainian defenders remain vigilant in monitoring developments in the Kupyansk and Lyman directions.

"To be more specific, in the Kupyansk direction, our troops repelled attacks south of Pershotravneve, Synkivka and east of Petropavlivka in the Kharkiv region. That is, all the battles last week ended in the enemy's defeat, they are not advancing there," noted Maliar.

As for the Lyman direction, the main fighting is taking place around Serebryanske forestry. Russian troops are trying to drive Ukrainian soldiers out of the positions of Kreminna and Bilohorivka, which were previously occupied by Ukrainian troops. Russian forces are not succeeding, but the fighting there is also very fierce.

• On August 9, the Ukrainian Armed Forces’ StratCom reported that since February 24 last year, the Ukrainian Defense Forces had already liberated more than 40,000 square kilometers of territory from Russian invaders.

• On August 21, the General Staff reported that more than 25 military clashes took place at the front in a day, and the Ukrainian Armed Forces were conducting an offensive in the Melitopol and Berdyansk directions.