A Caesar howitzer in the service of the Ukrainian Army. Photo: Kostiantyn and Vlada Liberov
The designated front line of the Russo-Ukrainian war exceeds 1,200 kilometers, covering five oblasts in eastern and southern parts of Ukraine, where active hostilities are underway, Brigadier-General Oleksii Hromov, Deputy Chief of the Main Operational Directorate of the General Staff of Ukraine’s Armed Forces, told Ukrinform news agency.
According to Oleksii Hromov, heavy fighting is underway in Ukraine’s Kherson, Zaporizhzhia, Donetsk, Luhansk, and Kharkiv oblasts. During the summer counteroffensive, Ukraine’s Armed Forces liberated nine towns and 160 square kilometers of Ukrainian land from Russian occupation, Hromov said.
The most fierce battles are happening in Melitopol and Berdiansk in Zaporizhzhia oblast, where Ukrainian forces have pushed the Russians back by 7,5 kilometers, according to Hromov.
“According to our intelligence, the enemy has set up a deeply echeloned system of engineering obstacles in the occupied territories, consisting of several obstacle strips of ten to 40 kilometers each, and their density is quite high. Each obstacle strip includes anti-tank minefields, non-explosive obstacles in the form of anti-tank ditches, concrete pyramids (the so-called “dragon’s teeth”), anti-tank hedgehogs, and wire obstacles,” Hromov said.
Hromov stressed that the General Staff of Ukraine’s Armed Forces carefully monitors Ukraine’s northern borders with Belarus and Russia, where Russian forces launch regular attacks using missiles, kamikaze drones, and artillery. The Russian sabotage and reconnaissance groups remain active along Ukraine’s northern and northeastern borders, Hromov said.
Furthermore, the threat of military invasion persists from neighboring Belarus, as well as the sea coast in Odesa and Mykolayiv oblasts in southern Ukraine, an area where, regardless of the Russian declining naval potential, its landing capabilities cannot be eliminated entirely, Hromov said.
Related:
- Frontline report: Ukrainian HIMARS raid inflicts heavy damage on Russian logistics and assets in eastern front
- Ukraine confirms destruction of Russian ammo depot in occupied Makiivka
- Ukraine to receive dozens of Leopard 1A5 tanks – Defense Express
- Ukrainian counteroffensive: What is going on?
Tags: Belarus, Russian invasion of Ukraine, Ukraine, Ukraine's counteroffensive 2023