The crucial battle for eastern Ukraine is littering the region with corpses

Russian and Ukrainian troops are fighting for every inch of land in eastern Ukraine’s Donbas in a bloody battle of attrition that is littering the region with corpses. Despite the scale of casualties on both sides, no one relinquishes control of the conquered territory.

“The situation at the front, especially in the Donetsk and Lugansk regions, it is still extremely difficult. This literally means fighting for every meter of Ukrainian land,” Ukrainian President Volodimir Zelensky acknowledged.

The president said that every day of resistance in “Bakhmut, Vuhledar, Mariinka and other cities and towns of Donbas reduces the time of Russian aggression by weeks.” “Resistance is crucial because it implies unprecedented destruction of Russian potential,” he added.

This is a central offensive for Russia, which is struggling to gain momentum just days before the anniversary of the military invasion of the neighboring country. For this reason, according to the UK’s Defense Minister, Ben Wallace, Moscow has committed 97% of its army to Ukraine.

The battles

The Russian Defense Ministry said its troops had broken through two Ukrainian defensive lines in the eastern Luhansk region and they pushed the Ukrainian troops about three kilometersforcing them to leave equipment and the bodies of the dead behind.

“The enemy, trying to take full control of the Donetsk and Lugansk regions, continues to concentrate its main efforts on conducting offensive operations in the Kupiansk, Lyman, Bakhmut, Avdiivka and Shakhtarsk areas,” the Ukrainian military reported, referring to the cities of the two provinces, as well as the eastern edge of the neighboring Kharkov region.

Russian artillery, drones and missiles have been pounding the Ukrainian-controlled eastern areas relentlessly for months, also indiscriminately shelling civilian targets. Moscow desperately seeks some military advances, after months of setbacks and setbacks.

The Donetsk and Lugansk oblasts, which together make up the Donbass industrial region bordering Russia, continue to bear the brunt of Russian shelling as Moscow is reportedly moving more troops to the area.

In Lugansk, the number of Russian air and ground attacks “grows every day”Governor Serhii Haidai said. “The Russians were able to transfer fresh forces to the offensive and are now trying to overwhelm us with sheer human mass,” he added.

Pavlo Kyrylenko, the ruler of Donetsk, said for his part that a city in that province was attacked “relentlessly” by several rocket launchers for more than three hours on Wednesday, destroying at least 12 residential buildings.

critical stage

As the first anniversary of the war in Russia approaches, followed by better spring weather, Western officials and analysts say theThe struggle may reach a critical stage when both sides try to launch offensives.

However, the battle is depleting both sides’ weapon reserves. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg has warned that Ukraine is using up munitions much faster than its allies can supply. And British intelligence noted that Russia’s military-industrial production “is becoming a critical weakness.”

US defense officials insist it Iran is helping the Kremlin support the bombing of Ukraine by supplying attack drones.

The Ukrainian forces’ stiff defense of Bakhmut, a mining town that has for months been a key target of Russia’s campaign in the east, was “strategically sound” because it undermined Moscow’s momentum, the Ukrainian think tank said. . the defense of Kiev has “degraded significant Russian forces”, including units of the Wagner group, he said.