Ukraine’s Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar says that the offensive continues in several directions in the country’s south as Russians put up resistance and fierce battles continue.
“Everything is going according to the plan set by the military,” she said on Ukrainian TV, and “There are certain advances in all directions where our military are moving.”
According to Maliar, the Russian forces continue to lay minefields and mine settlements in Zaporizhzhia Oblast without warning their residents.
“In the south, there are battles in areas where Ukrainian soldiers are advancing and the enemy is on the defensive. At the same time, we have areas where, on the contrary, the enemy is advancing and we are on the defense. For example, Kupiansk and Lyman,” Maliar said.
At the same time, Ukraine’s defense forces continued their advancement on the flanks in the Bakhmut direction, gradually driving the Russians out of their positions, “although they are trying to stop the advance of our soldiers with additional reserves,” according to a Telegram post published on the Ukrainian Ground Forces Commander Oleksandr Syrskyi’s channel.
The National Security and Defense Council’s Secretary Oleksii Danilov said that one of the main current priorities of the Ukrainian Armed Forces is to destroy Russian artillery:
“One of the main priorities of the [Ukrainian Defense Forces] at this time is, first of all, the attrition of artillery of the Russian occupation forces, the maximum destruction of artillery and other firepower systems and their crews to clear the theater of operations for [Ukrainian Defense Forces] operations. Destruction of Russian control points, ammunition, fuel, food, and supply routes,” he wrote on Facebook.
On 20 June, as of 18:00, Ukrainian rocket and artillery units hit three Russian command posts, one personnel and military equipment concentration, three electronic warfare stations, 17 artillery units on firing positions, one air defense system, and “one more important object of the enemy,” the Ukrainian Army’s general Staff reported in its evening bulletin.
Read also:
- Successful use of domestic drone with 1,000 km range reported by Ukroboronprom
- Ukraine’s defense minister warns against unrealistic expectations for Ukraine’s counteroffensive
- Ukraine conducts offensive operations in three sectors, makes gains – ISW
- Frontline report: Ukrainians destroy 300 Russian troops on Zaporizhzhian front; intense fighting in Zherebianka
- Russians attempting assaults in Lyman and Kupiansk directions in Ukraine’s northeast – Defense Ministry
