The Commander-in-Chief of Ukraine's Armed Forces said Sunday Kyiv's position on the frontline had deteriorated and that Russia had made a number of recent battlefield gains.
Russia's troops have gone back on the offensive this year, capitalizing on an advantage in manpower and arms to press forward, particularly in the eastern Donetsk region.
"The situation at the front has worsened," Oleksandr Syrsky said in a Facebook post Sunday.
He said Ukrainian troops had "retreated" to new defensive lines further to the west in some areas, conceding the loss of territory to the advancing Russians.
"The enemy has concentrated its main efforts in several sectors, creating a significant advantage in forces and means," he said.
Russia had secured "tactical successes in some sectors," he admitted.
Russia's defense ministry earlier on Sunday claimed its troops had captured the village of Novobakhmutivka in the eastern Donetsk region -- around 10 kilometers (6 miles) north of Avdiivka, which it captured in February.
Kyiv's forces are outnumbered across the battlefield, with the country struggling to recruit enough soldiers to replace those who have been killed, wounded or exhausted by the war, now in its third year.
Ukraine is also awaiting the arrival of billions of dollars in US weapons it hopes will end months of ammunition shortages and allow it to stabilize the front lines.
But leaders in Kyiv have warned the military outlook could worsen before then.
Digest of Russian Crimes in Ukraine – Article Eleven
Ukraine's head of intelligence at the ministry of defense Kyrylo Budanov said this month that the battlefield situation would likely be at its most difficult in mid-May to early June.
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Comments (15)
Europe must send troops to Ukraine now.Failure to assist Ukraine is cowardice.NATO is not worth a pinch of salt.
REMOVE PUTIN ASAP
PRIORITY # 1
Ukraine soldiers at the front line: Do not lose heart. You have a very difficult task at the moment to hold the line until fresh supplies reach you. At least the western world is now united in its support for you. There is no way that you can fail in the longer term. We all want Ukraine to be a free democracy and part of free Europe. Remember also the famous words to his troops attributed to US General George Patton in WW2: "Your job is not to die for your country. Your job is to make your opponent die for his country."
I believe the past strategy employed was to allow the Russian terrorist war criminals to quickly advance, then cut them off from support, and decimate them. Hopefully this same strategy is being employed with false information being fed through the Ukrainian media to throw the Russian war criminal terrorists off guard.
Its frustrating. I wish the USA has supplied more weapons sooner.
Time for a few Republics to revolt. Chechnya, Georgia some of the Stans... Let Russia fight on 2 or 3 fronts.
Just talk to Russia, why waste a generation of men. My taxes are super high in the USA. Inflation is up 40 % there taking land from you.
You have been receiving military aid all along. You need men to fight. As a tax payer in the USA. Stop the blood shed , talk to Russia. Your puppet government is going to collapse soon.
War is an unpredictable beast. We mustn’t despair. There will be gains and losses and gains and losses.
When we make gains, we jubilate. When we lose, we weep.
Gains bring us pride and new energy. Losses distort our vision and make us feel uncertain about the future.
We mustn’t lose hope. It may take some time and yes, every second of it will be tough and bitter, but Ukraine will prevail.
Saving Ukrainian troops lives is more important than land today. Orcs will massively retreat in the future.
Russian trolls are as attracted to this comments section as flies are to cow plops.
The civilized world longs for the day when the leaders and people of the world's largest country understand that they need to make the most of their own enormous territory, not invade/bomb/shell/murder/rape and loot from their neighbors.
This is good. The sooner Zelensky is forced to negotiate an end to the war the sooner the carnage and death can end. There are worse things that conceding land, like the death and maiming of so many that’s happening now
Why do they not have a draft like us their draft is for men 27 and above , it should be 17 or 18 above, we should stop providing money ,if they can't provide Troops! They need to make a deal , or their going to lose more land! Russia has built Stalingrad ,along the Donbas ,
Always worse news after taxpayer $ leave the United States
@Dan Burke, you realize that money is literally spent in the US.... Right? Where do you think $61 billion in funds is being spent....? Hint: American manufactured weapons and equipment...
I really hope the USA/NATO would drop nukes on Moscow and all the major cities and literally blow Russia off the map, nothing but smoking dead Russians and rubble...
@Marc, and Putin will nuke us , we need a peace settlement ,to stop the war were it's at ! They will not be able to hold a offensive!! Russia will just pour men in the gap until they take it back, not drafting men under 27 is ridiculous ! Ten years of men that are the youngest not being drafted , we shouldn't waste the money , we have slowly gave them arms
@Marc, that’s probably the most ignorant statement I’ve seen in a while. You’re talking about the deaths of millions and global thermonuclear war. Grow up and let go of the hate living inside you