The Russian military has seized two settlements in Kharkov Region and Donbass from Ukrainian forces, the Defense Ministry in Moscow announced on Wednesday.
Troops dislodged Ukrainian forces from the village of Kislovka, around 25km east of Kupiansk, a key Ukrainian logistics hub in the region, the ministry said. The announcement comes two days after the reported capture of the village of Kotlyarovka, immediately to the south of Kislovka.
The development apparently signals an intensification of combat on the Kharkov axis, where the front line – which approximately runs along the border between Ukraine’s Kharkov Region and Russia’s Lugansk People’s Republic – has remained largely static for months.
Russian troops have also liberated the village of Novokalinovo in Russia’s Donetsk People’s Republic, the ministry has claimed. The village is located just to the east of Ocheretino, a key railway hub in the area and an important stronghold due to its elevated position. Russian forces broke through Ukraine’s defensive lines near Ocheretino in late April, and the full liberation of the town was announced by the Defense Ministry on Sunday.
The fall of Ocheretino has apparently become a major issue for Ukraine’s forces stationed in the area, as it led to the loss of several villages around the town in a matter of a few days. In Ukraine, the Ocheretino defeat has been widely blamed on the 115th Mechanized Brigade, which reportedly abandoned its positions without orders to do so.
The Ukrainian command poured in reserves in an effort to wrestle it back, including the 47th Mechanized Brigade ‘Magura’, with Western-supplied armor, including US-made M1 Abrams tanks and Bradley infantry fighting vehicles. However, the unit, which is portrayed in Ukraine as an elite force, has apparently failed to stabilize the situation.
Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu has said Russian forces are in full control of the battlefield situation and are steadily advancing. Throughout April, Ukrainian forces lost around 1,000 soldiers per day on average, the minister said earlier this month, estimating Kiev’s military losses at 111,000 this year alone.