Russischer Angriffskrieg: Putin spricht bei Vormarsch in der Ukraine von Fortschritten

Russian military advances in Ukraine continue to accelerate, according to Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin's account of the conflict. Speaking from Bishkek, the Kyrgyzstan capital, Putin claimed Russian forces had reached within a few kilometers of the cities of Sloviansk, Kramatorsk, and Drusevka in the Donetsk region, encroaching on the city of Swjatohirsk and battling in Dobropillja.

These claims of progress, however, stand in stark contrast to the assessments of Ukrainian and Western observers, who last reported the Russian advance had slowed. In the south of Ukraine, Russian troops reportedly advanced to the center of Orichiw in the Saporischshchya area. On the eastern front, the front line was only twelve kilometers away from the administrative center of Sumy, Putin stated.

Furthermore, a larger grouping of Ukrainian forces was reportedly encircled on the eastern bank of the Oskil River in the Kharkiv region. Observers, however, noted a largely static front in recent days, with Ukrainian forces successfully launching counterattacks in the Donetsk region near Lyman and in the south of Ukraine. Both sides have recently intensified their use of airstrikes far behind the front lines.

For over four and a half years, Ukraine has resisted Putin's Russian invasion, with Moscow targeting power plants and substations, leading to power and heating outages, especially in the winter. Meanwhile, Kyiv has focused its drone attacks on the oil industry, critical to Russia's exports.