Ukraine’s outnumbered troops have been forced to retreat from three villages on the eastern front lines, the country’s top commander said Sunday, as Russian forces push to break through its beleaguered defenses while Kyiv waits for newly-committed U.S. military aid to arrive.
It was a rare admission from Ukraine’s new commander-in-chief, Oleksandr Syrskyi, that his troops were not only struggling but that the Russians were gaining the upper hand.
In a lengthy post on his Telegram channel Sunday, Syrskyi said the situation on the frontlines had “worsened.”
“Trying to seize the strategic initiative and break through the front line, the enemy has concentrated main efforts in several directions, creating a significant advantage in forces and means,” Syrskyi said. “It’s actively attacking along the entire frontline, in some areas — it has tactical successes.”
He said his forces had “moved to new frontiers” west of three villages in the partially-occupied Donetsk region in Ukraine’s east, including Berdychi, Semenivka and Novomykhailivka. The Russian defense ministry claimed to have taken Novomykhailivka twice in the last week, on April 22 and again on Saturday.
Syrskyi said the move further west was an attempt to “preserve the life and health of our defenders.”
The Russians have engaged up to four brigades in the area, the commander said, and are trying to develop an offensive west of Avdiivka, a key city from which Ukrainian forces had to withdraw in February after months of grueling fighting, and nearby Maryinka.
“In general, the enemy achieved certain tactical successes in these areas, but could not gain an operational advantage,” Syrskyi said, adding that Kyiv was working with partners to obtain weapons and military equipment “as soon as possible.”
The rush to get the long-awaited weapons is increasingly becoming an urgent necessity for Ukraine to hold on to its territory as the Kremlin’s forces appear to have stepped up their assault.
It comes just over a week after Congress passed a $61 billion aid package for Ukraine after months of resistance from hardline Republicans.
The political wrangling left Ukraine with severe ammunition shortages, leaving its defensive lines dangerously exposed across the 600-mile frontline. The consequences of the months of ammunition shortages, compounded by dwindling personnel reserves, are now becoming apparent as Moscow appears intent on seizing as much new territory as possible before the U.S. aid starts trickling in.
The Russian defense ministry claimed Sunday to have taken Novobakhmutivka, another village in the Donetsk region, that’s near Berdychi. It’s the third village, including Novomykhailivka, that it has claimed in a week. Syrskyi did not address the fate of Novobakhmutivka in his update on Sunday.
Since the beginning of the war, Russian President Vladimir Putin had made taking the entire Donetsk region, and with it complete control of the wider industrial Donbas region, one of his top military goals.
Syrskyi also made a brief mention of an increase in the number of Russian troops and their regrouping in the northeastern Kharkiv direction. Some military observers have said that Ukraine’s second-largest city, Kharkiv, could become the next target for Russian forces after increased bombardment of its civilian infrastructure in recent weeks, although Syrskyi indicated that there were no signs that Russia was imminently preparing an offensive in Ukraine’s north.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy reiterated the need for Ukraine’s partners to provide air defense systems after another massive missile attack Saturday, mostly targeting the country’s power grid, saying that “no time should be wasted” in shielding Ukraine’s skies.
On Sunday, he said he emphasized the need for the Patriot air defense systems to Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries.