Ukraine’s Troops Capture Village Near Bakhmut in Ongoing Conflict with Russia
September 15 (Reuters) – Ukraine’s military announced on Friday that its troops had successfully captured a village near Bakhmut, the eastern city that had been under Russian control since May. The village, called Andriivka, was seized during assault operations in the Donetsk region, according to the General Staff of Ukraine’s armed forces.
The General Staff reported that the Ukrainian troops were able to fortify certain areas and inflict significant casualties and equipment loss on the Russian side. Andriivka is located south of Bakhmut and was the site of a fierce battle during the Russian invasion last year. Additionally, the General Staff noted “partial success” near the Klishchiivka village, also south of Bakhmut.
Over the past three months, Ukraine has been steadily advancing against entrenched Russian positions, retaking multiple villages and making progress on the flanks of Bakhmut.
President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and other officials have dismissed criticism from Western nations that the offensive is too slow and plagued by strategic errors.
Initial reports from Ukraine’s Deputy Defense Minister, Hanna Maliar, mistakenly claimed that Andriivka had already come under Ukrainian control. However, Maliar later clarified that fighting was still ongoing in and around the village.
In the Donetsk region, Ukrainian troops managed to repel a Russian offensive towards the towns of Avdiivka and Maryinka, according to General Staff spokesman Andriy Kovaliov. He stated that all Russian attacks near Maryinka had been successfully repelled.
Meanwhile, on the southern front, Ukrainian troops continued to inflict substantial losses on the enemy near the village of Verbove in the Zaporizhzhia region, according to the General Staff.
It should be noted that Reuters was unable to independently verify the battlefield reports, and Russia has not confirmed the Ukrainian advances.
(This story has been corrected to change the location to ‘south’ in the headline)
Reporting by Anna Pruchnicka; Editing by Clarence Fernandez & Simon Cameron-Moore