Russian army reverses only gain of Ukrainian counteroffensive
Russian forces have recaptured the symbolically important village of Rabotino in Zaporozhye Region, the Defense Ministry reported on Wednesday.
The territorial gain was achieved through military action against the Ukrainian forces in the region, in which the adversary lost up to 25 troops and a US-made M777 howitzer, the ministry’s update on the Ukraine conflict said.
Rabotino is located some 75km northeast of Melitopol, the regional capital. Zaporozhye Region, together with three other regions, officially joined Russia in the fall of 2022 after referendums that Kiev did not accept. The city of Zaporozhye, which is further to the north, is under Kiev’s control and houses the Ukrainian regional administration.
Russian forces captured Rabotino in March 2022 during the early stage of the conflict but were forced to withdraw in August of last year, as Kiev’s Western-armed troops attempted to overwhelm Russian defensive positions during its counteroffensive.
The Ukrainian government and its backers placed their hopes in the counteroffensive as a way to reestablish control over all lands claimed by Kiev and eventually achieve victory in the conflict. The capture of Rabotino was hailed by the Ukrainian side as a major step toward this aim.
Russian troops currently have the overall initiative in the fighting. A recently launched offensive in Ukraine’s Kharkov Region in the north has resulted in the capture of numerous settlements by the advancing forces.
The Ukrainian military leadership has said that Russia’s operation has forced it to stretch even thinner the already limited military reserves available to Kiev. This opens up the possibility that Russian forces will be able to breakthrough elsewhere.
