Ukraine: Zelensky on the front, Moscow says it is making progress in the East

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky visited the front in the Kharkiv region (northeast) on Monday, while Russian troops again claimed the capture of a new village in the Donetsk region (east), continuing a slow advance.

“Today I had the honor to congratulate our special forces fighters (…) and to present them with official decorations,” Zelensky said in a statement posted on social media after visiting a forward command post of the army in the Vovchansk region.

“I am grateful for their bravery and heroic operations behind enemy lines,” he added.

On May 10, Russian forces opened a new front by attacking the Kharkiv region from the north. They are particularly seeking to seize the city of Vovchansk, which is still at the heart of violent fighting and has suffered very heavy destruction, according to drone images from the Ukrainian army.

Ukraine: the positions of the military forces © AFP – Valentin RAKOVSKY, Sophie RAMIS, Cléa PECULIER

This attack led kyiv to send reinforcements to this sector, while Ukraine is already seriously short of soldiers due to the very heavy losses accumulated more than two years after the start of the Russian invasion.

Ukrainian forces have so far blocked any Russian advance in the Vovchansk sector.

Russian forces have also failed to stop the rocket and drone fire towards the Russian region of Belgorod, while this was the Kremlin's stated objective for this offensive.

– Slow Russian progress in the East –

But, at the same time, Russia continues to gain ground in the Donetsk region (East) where it has had the initiative since the failure of the Ukrainian counter-offensive in the summer of 2023 and the fall of the Avdiïvka fortress in February 2024.

A building destroyed by airstrikes in Toretsk in the Donetsk region of Ukraine, July 29, 2024 © AFP – Anatolii STEPANOV

The attacks by the Russian army, although very costly in soldiers and equipment, are forcing the Ukrainian defenses to buckle in certain sectors. But so far Moscow has not managed to make a decisive breakthrough.

Several cities in the East are also under Russian fire. Like Toretsk, where three civilians were killed and three others wounded, according to the regional governor, Vadym Filachkin. Another person died in Grodivka, another locality in the Donetsk region.

On Monday, the Russian army claimed the capture of yet another small village, that of Vovtché, in this same region. The day before, it had claimed to have captured two neighboring towns, Progress and Evgenivka.

These small villages are located about fifteen kilometers west of Pokrovsk and Myrnograd, two larger cities.

In other sectors of the region, the Russian army is still attacking the strategic city of Chassiv Yar, near Bakhmut.

A resident pumps water in a street in Toretsk, in the Donetsk region of Ukraine, on July 29, 2024 © AFP – Anatolii STEPANOV

kyiv is suffering from the numerical and material superiority of Moscow, which has more ammunition and uses gliding bombs, which are difficult to counter and which destroy the most

About 700 gliding bombs and more than 100 Shahed explosive drones have been used by Russia in the past week, according to President Zelensky.

Ukrainian forces are short of weapons and ammunition compared to the Russians, although Western aid has resumed after months of blockages.

They are also struggling to replenish their ranks, to cope with the heavy losses accumulated more than two years after the start of the Russian invasion.

Ukraine, outnumbered by Russia, is having difficulty recruiting new soldiers. New laws were passed in the spring to accelerate the mobilization.

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