several Kiev assaults repelled in eastern Ukraine, Moscow says

2023-06-25 15:25:00

While the Wagner troops are gradually withdrawing, Russia claims this Sunday to have repelled “successfully” attacks from kyiv on the eastern front.

By JW with AFP A destroyed house in a village in the Donetsk region of Ukraine, where Kiev’s counter-offensive against Russia continues, on June 23, 2023 (illustration). © NARCISO CONTRERAS / ANADOLU AGENCY / Anadolu Agency via AFP Published on 06/25/2023 at 3:25 p.m.

After the crisis caused by the attempted rebellion of the Wagner Group, aborted on the evening of Saturday, Russia affirmed this Sunday June 25 to have repelled several assaults by Ukrainian forces in eastern Ukraine, where Kiev had announced, the day before, to have launched new offensives and progressed.

The Russian army “successfully repelled” the attacks carried out by the forces of Kiev in four areas of the front, in particular in the regions of Donetsk (east), but also of Zaporizhia (south), indicated the Russian Ministry of Defense in a statement, stating that ten of these attacks had been repelled near Bakhmout (east).

A political opportunity

In parallel with the Russian crisis this Saturday, the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense has multiplied statements on social networks, considering the Wagner rebellion as “a window of opportunity” for Ukraine.

READ ALSODoes Wagner’s rebellion against the Russian government mark a turning point in the conflict with Ukraine? The Ukrainian ministry also took advantage of this reversal of the situation to mock the Russian soldiers, inviting them to choose their side in the face of the attacks of the Wagner group. “The Ministry of Defense of Ukraine is wondering why Russian soldiers are still in their muddy trenches, rather than coming to the aid of their comrades, whether on one side of the conflict or the other,” said writes the ministry on Twitter.

During the day, the Ukrainian Defense had announced a simultaneous “offensive in several directions” towards the localities of the eastern front: Orikhovo-Vassylivka, Bakhmout, Bogdanivka, Yaguidné, Klichtchiïvka and Kourdioumivka. Defense Minister Hanna Maliar had claimed “advances in all directions”.