The Ukrainian authorities announced, on Sunday, that Ukrainian forces had regained the city of Klyshcheyevka, which is of strategic importance south of Bakhmut.
The gains made on the ground are very important for Ukraine as President Volodymyr Zelensky prepares for his second visit of the war to Washington next week in an attempt to obtain additional support.
“I liberated Kleshcheyevka from the Russians,” Oleksandr Sersky, commander of the Ukrainian army’s ground forces, said on social media.
In his evening speech, Zelensky saluted the soldiers fighting near Bakhmut and singled out those who recaptured Klichchievka, saying, “Well done!”
He added that Kiev is “preparing new defense solutions for Ukraine,” noting that “air defense and artillery systems are the priority,” without providing additional details.
Russian forces took control of Klishchievka, which was inhabited by hundreds of people, before the invasion of Moscow last year, in January.
For his part, the spokesman for the Ukrainian forces in the east, Ilya Yevlash, said that controlling Klychchievka may help the Ukrainian army encircle Bakhmut.
He explained in a statement broadcast on television, “We have now gained a starting point that will allow us to continue developing offensive operations and liberate our land from the occupiers.”
This announcement came after Ukrainian forces said, on Friday, that they had regained control of the village of Andrievka, also located south of the city of Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine.
But the next day, Russia denied this.
Kiev began a counterattack in southern and eastern Ukraine in June after obtaining Western weapons and strengthening its offensive units.
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2023-09-17 20:18:07
