Russian forces have gained control of two more villages on the front line with Ukraine, the Defense Ministry reported on Tuesday.
Both advances were made by the ‘West’ grouping of the armed forces, according to the military’s regular media briefing. The settlement of Artyomovka was liberated in Russia’s Lugansk People’s Republic. The other community, Timkovka, is located in Ukraine’s Kharkov Region.
Elsewhere, near Kupyansk and Nevskoye, several Ukrainian units suffered heavy damage, the ministry claimed. Overall, Kiev lost over 560 troops on this axis alone in 24 hours, the ministry estimated.
Ukrainian forces have been gradually losing ground to their Russian counterparts in recent months, with particularly serious setbacks occurring last month in Kharkov Region.
The latest Russian update said forces from the north grouping, which is primarily responsible for the action there, had been pushing forward near the settlements of Glubokoye and Tikhoye. Ukrainian casualties reached 265 in one day, it added.
The US, Ukraine’s key supporter in the conflict with Moscow, has reacted to the setbacks by reportedly greenlighting Ukrainian strikes using American weapons outside territory claimed by Kiev.
The Ukrainian government has complained that limited permission to attack targets inside Russia’s Belgorod Region on the border with Kharkov Region was hampering progress.
Vladimir Zelensky has said that he wants to use Western arms to deliver strikes deep inside Russia. Kiev has been using domestically produced kamikaze drones for such attacks but, according to Zelensky, “powerful” missiles obtained from foreign sponsors would be more efficient.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has warned that any such attack may prompt his nation to supply weapons of similar class to outside forces, who would then use them to attack military assets belonging to Western nations. Such an escalation could lead to disastrous consequences, he added.
According to the president, Ukrainian cross-border attacks in Belgorod Region, including against civilian targets, necessitated the Russian offensive in Kharkov Region. The goal is to establish a buffer zone there, he has said.
Ukraine Loses Over 740 Soldiers in Battles With Russian Southern Troops
Russia’s Ministry of Defense reported on the progress of the special military operation and achievements of the Russian Armed Forces in the last 24 hours.
Russia's Yug (South) grouping of the Russian armed forces has taken better positions in the past 24 hours, while Ukraine has lost more than 740 soldiers in clashes, the Russian Defense Ministry said on Tuesday.
"Units of the southern group of troops improved the situation along the front line ... The enemy lost more than 740 military personnel, two armored combat vehicles [in clashes over the past 24 hours," the ministry said in a statement.
The central group has repelled five counterattacks by Ukrainian troops in the Donetsk People's Republic and Kiev has lost up to 350 soldiers, while Kiev has lost up to 135 soldiers in battles with the eastern group of the Rusisan forces.
The western group of forces has taken control of the settlement of Artemovka in the Lugansk People's Republic and a village of Timkovka in the Kharkov region, while Kiev has lost over 560 soldiers in battles.
The northern group has repelled two counterattacks and Ukraine has lost more than 265 soldiers, the ministry added.
Ukrainian Troops Caught In Endless ‘Mini-Pockets’ Around Kharkov – PoW
In military slang, a pocket is a situation in which enemy forces encircle and isolate troops from their comrades, cutting off their supplies and reinforcements.
Ukrainian Army detachments have been caught in numerous “mini-pockets” around Kharkov during the Russian offensive this spring, former Ukrainian soldier and current PoW Kirill Docenko has said.
“Everyone knew what was going on. We saw your [Russian] equipment, saw your troops. However, there was no counter-battery fire on our behalf, no support from heavy military equipment. We just sat and waited until the moment when your army approached our positions. The battle broke out and that’s it," Docenko explained.
He added that Ukrainian troops ignored orders to establish perimeter defenses and started to retreat, being caught in the “mini-pockets” by the Russian army.
“Those who could – retreated, fled. All gathered at one point. Platoon strong points, company strong points – all done in order to establish at least some kind of defense using large numbers of servicemen. However, this all was done wrong, that you are just being encircled, end of story. And you will not break out. No one will approach you, you won’t flee," the PoW said.
Docenko was wounded and his peers used a pit as a shelter against shelling. They reported the situation and their officers ordered them to hold positions despite all odds. There was shooting nearby and they heard pleas for help on the radio frequency from other Ukrainian soldiers who were encircled in the very same manner.
Soon his walkie-talkie went silent and Docenko blacked out. He spent up to five days in the pit that was earlier used by the Ukrainian Army for organic waste. When he regained consciousness, he was already behind Russian lines. He realized that fact because Ukrainian artillery was shelling the location where he was hiding – their old positions with their wounded peers left.
“My walkie-talkie was blocked or reprogrammed to cut it from [Ukrainian] radio frequencies. These were our old positions however it seemed that your [Russian] army already seized them since our artillery was shelling the location. At first, there was a drone flying and there were several close hits, I even saw shards falling behind me," Docenko explained.
Earlier, Sputnik published an interview with another Ukrainian soldier who chose life over death and surrendered to the Russian Armed Forces. He admitted that the Ukrainian top brass does not care about the lives of their people, instead sending troops to a guaranteed death - and thanked Russian soldiers for their respectful treatment.
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