Russia has “set records” for shelling, pounding Ukraine with artillery fire in the east, a military spokesperson said during an interview on Ukrainian television Sunday.
“For many days in a row, the enemy sets records hitting Ukraine with artillery fire in the Lyman direction and in the Luhansk region,” said Serhii Cherevatyi with the Eastern Grouping of the Ukrainian Armed Forces. “In the past 24 hours there were 424 shellings by different types of artillery and 23 combats,” he added.
According to the Cherevatyi, the main direction of the enemy’s attack remains on the Bakhmut section of the front line.
“There, the enemy struck 167 times along the entire section of the front with various types of rocket-propelled artillery, and 41 clashes between forces took place. The enemy lost 212 servicemen and 315 servicemen were wounded as a result,” he continued.
CNN is not able to independently confirm the number of sustained casualties.
“In the area of Bakhmut itself, there were 48 attacks and 19 clashes between forces,” he said. He added “battles were also fought in the area of Torske, Fedorivka, Ivanivske and Chasiv Yar.”
When asked whether the Russians are trying to wear down the Ukrainian troops, Cherevatyi expressed his belief that, on the contrary, “the defense forces in the east of Ukraine are wearing out the enemy so that it cannot conduct large-scale offensive operations.”
“Right now, the defenders of eastern Ukraine are doing an incredible thing — they are exhausting the enemy and causing the enemy losses in manpower and equipment, which is definitely reflected both in the quality of the enemy’s conduct of hostilities and in his moral and psychological state,” Cherevatyi said.
He also reported that currently, “army reserves are being prepared to carry out a decisive blow to the enemy and push it away from Ukraine’s territory under the supervision of Ukraine’s commander-in-chief and the chief of the general staff.”
“Using, of course, the help of our partners from the free world,” Cherevatyi added.
