Ukrainian forces not in static defense, but maneuvering and counterattacking, says Southern Command

Colonel Vladyslav Voloshyn, spokesman for the Defense Forces of Southern Ukraine, said this live on Espreso TV.

“Today, we’re not in a blind defense. Sitting still means you can be destroyed and your positions overrun. We’re using maneuverable defense and, when we get the chance, we counterattack and carry out small offensives. In other areas, our commander-in-chief reported we’ve liberated some settlements and pushed the enemy back from key positions,” he said.

Voloshyn added that Russia is struggling to move assault units and equipment to the front.

“When we go on the defensive actively, we prevent that, and the enemy holds back from attacking. Our commander-in-chief was right: we’re preparing, and soon we’ll take active steps to drive the enemy out. Every soldier in the [Ukrainian] Armed Forces and the Defense Forces wants this,” he said.

• In the past 24 hours, there were 171 combat clashes on the Russian-Ukrainian front.