Two Ukraine counteroffensives against Russian forces now under way: Zelensky adviser
- Counteroffensives in east and south intended to tie up Russian reserves, prevent reinforcing
- Moscow has denied reports of Ukrainian progress and said its troops had routed Ukrainian forces
The Ukrainian army has begun two counteroffensives against Russian positions in eastern and southern Ukraine, according to a senior adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
Adviser Oleksiy Arestovych gave no further detail on the location where the counteroffensives in question were taking place, saying that such information was for the general staff to reveal.
The dual counteroffensive was intended to tie up Russian reserves and prevent the Russian military from reinforcing one section of the front at the expense of the other, Arestovych said, adding that Ukrainian troops were really putting their Russian counterparts under pressure.
While Arestovych’s comments could not immediately be verified, correspondents for Russian state TV reported that the town of Balakliya in eastern Ukraine’s Kharkiv region had come under attack on Tuesday, recapturing terrain, including the village of Verbivka, in the area.
Gaining control of Balakliya could facilitate a Ukrainian attempt to encircle or partially encircle Izyum, a city with a major railway hub used by Moscow to supply its forces, according to Kyiv-based military analyst Oleh Zhdanov.
Giving its regular situation report on Wednesday morning, Ukraine’s military said its ground forces had attacked seven Russian command points and 13 “objects of concentration of Russia’s manpower”, without saying where.
