Heavy fighting and apparently Russian casualties in eastern Ukraine

Day 79 after the Russian attack on Ukraine:

The fighting in Ukraine has been going on for almost two and a half months. Heavy fighting broke out again on Saturday east of the country reported. The Russian troops continued their intensive fighting against the Ukrainian forces – but without making any significant progress. The Ukrainian soldiers repelled Russian attempts to cross a river and the Stadt Sewerodonezk encircled, said the governor of the eastern region of Lugansk, Serhiy Gajdaj, on Saturday.

According to the governor, the Russian troops suffered heavy losses in soldiers and equipment. From intercepted telephone conversations, the Ukrainian side learned “that an entire Russian battalion refused to attack because they saw what was happening.” Aerial photos showed dozens of destroyed armored vehicles on the riverbank, as well as destroyed pontoon bridges. According to Ukraine, it also managed to drive Russian troops out of the northern city of Kharkiv

The Ukrainian leadership now sees the beginning of the “third phase” of the Russian war of aggression and a protracted struggle associated with it. “Phase one” was an attempt to overrun Ukraine “in a few days,” said Viktor Andrusyw, an adviser at Ukraine’s interior ministry, on television on Saturday night. In the second phase, the Ukrainian forces were to be encircled and crushed in several boilers. “And they didn’t do that either.”

In the new “third phase” the Russian military prepared to defend the territory gained so far. “It shows that they want to make a long war out of it,” said Andrusyw. Apparently, the Russian government thinks that it can force the West to the negotiating table and thus force Ukraine to give in.

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