RUSSIAN ATTACKS ARE A ‘NEW OFFENSIVE’, SAYS US

Sat 14 October 2023:

Back to that Russian attack on the eastern Ukrainian city of Avdiivka that is now continuing into its fourth day.

Russia’s representative to the United Nations, Vasily Nebenzia, has gone as far as saying the intensified battles in the east signified a new stage in its campaign and it means the Ukrainian counteroffensive is over.

“Russian troops have, for several days now, switched over to active combat action practically throughout the entire frontline,” Nebenzia told a session of the UN security council.

“The so-called Ukrainian counteroffensive can therefore be considered finished.”

But in Washington, the national security council spokesperson, John Kirby, agreed the Russian action amounted to a “new offensive” – showing that Russia was in no way ready to give up its campaign – but said was confident the Ukrainian military would beat back Russian forces.

A military analyst, Serhiy Zgurets, writing on the Espreso TV website, said Avdiivka had withstood Russian attacks in 2014, when Russian-financed separatists had seized large chunks of Ukrainian territory. The area had since been fortified.

“All Russian attacks have resulted in significant losses for them,” he wrote.

In Avdiivka, Vitaliy Barabash, the head of the city’s military administration, told Ukrainian national television: “The fighting has been going on for four consecutive days.

“They have substantial reserves of personnel and equipment. Avdiivka is completely ablaze. They shoot, using everything they have. The hospital is again under fire, as are administrative buildings and our volunteer centre.”

Russia has focused its campaign along the 1,000km front on the eastern regions of Donetsk and Luhansk.

The Ukrainian counteroffensive launched in June has made some progress in both the east, near Bakhmut, and in the south, where Kyiv hopes to sever a land bridge joining Russian positions in the south and east.

But the gains have not yet matched rapid gains made by advances last year in the north-east and south.

SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES

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