War in Ukraine: the situation at the front has “deteriorated,” according to the commander-in-chief of the Kyiv army

Ukrainian army chief Alexander Syrsky said on Sunday that the situation at the front had “deteriorated” and Russian troops had achieved “tactical successes” on several fronts.

Russia is “actively advancing along the entire front line, achieving tactical successes in individual sectors,” General Syrsky said on Facebook.

“In an attempt to seize the strategic initiative and break through the front line, the enemy concentrated its efforts in several directions, thereby creating a significant advantage in forces and means,” he continued.

He reported “brutal fighting” at the front over the past week, describing a “dynamic” situation in which certain positions were captured by one side and then the other several times in the same day.

According to him, however, Ukrainian troops manage to “improve their tactical position” in certain directions.

Intense fighting in the east

Among the areas where fighting is most intense is the Kupyansky sector in the northeast of the country, where the Russians “had partial successes but were stopped,” General Syrsky said.

In the Kramatorsk direction (east), Russian troops are conducting an offensive to take the city of Chasov Yar, but “the most difficult situation” has developed in the area of ​​Pokrovsk and Kurakhovoy, where “fierce fighting continues.” He admitted that Ukrainian troops had been withdrawn from the cities of Berdich, Semyonovka and Novomikhailovka.

“In order to strengthen the defense in these areas, the brigades that have restored their combat capability are being redeployed to replace the units that suffered losses,” the Ukrainian commander-in-chief further indicated. He also spoke about the “tense situation” in the south of the country.

Village captured by Russians near Avdeevka

Russia on Sunday said it had captured the new village of Novobakhmutovka on its eastern front, an area where Moscow’s forces have advanced rapidly in the past week in the face of the defending Ukrainian army.

The village, northwest of the town of Avdiivka, is close to the village of Ocherytne, which was quickly invaded this week by Russian troops who observers say now control most of it, drawing criticism from Ukrainian military bloggers.

The DeepState Telegram channel, close to the Ukrainian army and followed by more than 700 thousand people, accused the command of the unit stationed there – the 115th motorized rifle brigade – of “the collapse of the defense of the entire region, which resulted in significant losses.”

Ukrainian forces, short of men and ammunition, have faced a slow Russian advance since the fall of the fortress city of Avdiivka in February. The head of Ukrainian military intelligence, Kirill Budanov, predicts that the situation will worsen around mid-May and early June, which will be a “difficult period” for Ukraine.