Kyiv’s forces claim Russia is losing troops at a record rate in its push to advance in eastern Ukraine.
Russia has pounded Ukraine with long-range weapons and sustained ground assaults in the country’s east during the past week, showing little sign of fatigue in the supply of men or arms, as Ukraine tried to ensure that the US presidential transition would not dent military aid.
While they did not capture new settlements, Russian forces maintained their strongest pressure on the towns of Pokrovsk and Kurakhove in Donetsk, devoting almost half of their activity to those fronts.
On Sunday they also appeared to be closing in on Velyka Novosilka on the Donetsk-Zaporizhia border, in an operation coordinated with their assaults on Pokrovsk and Kurakhove.
“We understand that Velyka Novosilka is a continuation of the events taking place in the Kurakhove-Pokrovsk region. This is a logistics hub that also helps our Kurakhove garrison,” said Serhii Bratchuk, spokesman of the volunteer Ukrainian army group “South” on the ArmyTV stream.
He said if Velyka Novosilka fell, pressure was likely to pass onto Orikhiv, 6km (3.7 miles) from the frontline, and Huliaipole, just 2km (1.2 miles) from the frontline, both towns lying south of Zaporizhzhia.
