Ukraine’s commander-in-chief Oleksandr Syrsky said on Saturday the situation on the Eastern Front had deteriorated significantly and Russia had claimed control of a village near the occupied industrial town of Avdiivka.
“The situation on the Eastern Front has deteriorated significantly in recent days,” said Syrsky, who took over as commander-in-chief in February after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky fired his popular predecessor Valeri Zaluzhny.
The Russian Defense Ministry said its troops had “liberated” the village of Pervomaiske in the Donetsk region, about 11 km (7 miles) west of the largely destroyed town of Avdiivka, which was captured by Russia in mid-February.
Ukraine has not confirmed this. The army said on Friday that it had repelled attacks on the village.
Syrsky spoke last month of “a significant intensification of the enemy offensive after the presidential elections in Russia.”
The commander-in-chief added that decisions would be made “to strengthen the most problematic areas of defense through electronic warfare and air defense.”
In the southern Zaporizhia region, Russia accused Ukraine on Saturday of killing 10 people by shelling the occupied town of Tokmak.
The city fell to Russia at the start of the invasion.
Ukrainian authorities in Zaporizhzhia said Russia had attacked the region more than 400 times in the last day, including from aircraft.
Ukraine also said the situation around the city of Chasiv Yar on the Eastern Front was “difficult and tense” and the area was “under constant fire.”
Khasiv Yar is 20 kilometers (12 miles) west of the city of Bakhmut, which was leveled by months of artillery shelling before being captured by Moscow last May.
Russia is now securing new territorial gains and seeking to advance against Ukrainian units hampered by delays in the delivery of vital Western military aid.
“The enemy is actively attacking our positions in the Lyman and Bakhmut sectors… In the Pokrovsk sector they are trying to break through our defenses with dozens of tanks and infantry fighting vehicles,” Syrsky said.
“The question of technical superiority over the enemy in high-tech weapons has arisen again. This is the only way we can defeat a greater enemy,” Syrsky said.
– Training boost –
“The second serious problem is to improve the quality of training of military personnel, especially infantry units, so that they can optimally use all the capabilities of military equipment and Western weapons,” Syrsky added.
Ukraine’s European allies are currently conducting a training offensive for their armed forces.
France’s Defense Minister Sebastien Lecornu said Friday that future Ukrainian fighter pilots expected to fly American F-16 aircraft would receive their initial training in southern France.
Other countries, including the Netherlands, Denmark and Romania, are trying to help Ukraine train pilots.
A military source said some Ukrainians, after receiving initial training in Britain, are now undergoing “advanced training” at an undisclosed location to learn to fly fighter jets.
bur-led-am/cw