The Armed Forces of Ukraine assured that Russian troops were successfully contained in all directions

The Armed Forces of Ukraine on Thursday assured that Russian forces are “successfully contained in all directions” and stressed that “in some areas, troops are carrying out successful counterattacks”, as part of the invasion that began on February 24 by order of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The General Staff of the Ukrainian Army stated on its Facebook account that Ukrainian forces “continue to carry out a defensive operation in the eastern, southeast and northeastern directions”, noting that in the Donetsk and Lugansk regions “five enemy attacks were repelled in one day”.

He also denounced that “in the territories of the Kiev region abandoned by the enemy there are frequent cases of mines on land and buildings” and pointed to a “movement of Russian military equipment” in Belarus, “probably with the aim of regrouping units and creating a reserve to replace the losses in men, weapons and equipment in Ukraine”.

The Ukrainian Armed Forces reported that “the morale and psychological situation of the troops of the Russian enemy, as well as the level of motivation of personnel of the occupying forces to participate in hostilities remains low and tends to deteriorate”. “There have been numerous cases of refusal to continue service and of reluctance to sign contracts with recruits in units of the Baltic Fleet,” he said.

Finally, he stated that Russian forces seek to “apply a scenario to create another pseudo-republic in the Kherson region” (south), for which Russia would be carrying out “explanatory work” to local authorities and the population to promote this possibility, amid reports of alleged plans to hold a referendum in this area of the country.

The Russian Government announced on Tuesday that it will “drastically reduce” its military operations against the Ukrainian capital, Kiev, and the city of Chernigov following “constructive” talks with Ukraine in the Turkish city of Istanbul, in which the Ukrainian authorities again emphasized the need for international assurances of security in order to accept a neutral status.

However, Ukrainian President Volodymir Zelensky on Wednesday denounced an “accumulation of Russian troops” to launch new attacks on the Donbas, in the east of the country, and said he believes “no one” by mentioning the alleged withdrawal of invading troops from Kiev and Chernigov.

“On the alleged reduction of occupant activity in these directions. We know that this is not fun, but the consequences of exile. Consequences of the work of our defenders. But we also see that at the same time there is an accumulation of Russian troops for further attacks on the Donbas. And we are preparing for this,” Zelensky said in his speech.

He added that “we don't believe in anyone, in any beautiful verbal construction. There is a real situation on the battlefield. And now, this is the most important thing. We're not giving anything away. And we will fight for every meter of our land.”

(With information from Europa Press)

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