Ukraine Pushes Russia From Three Towns During Counteroffensive

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Caleb Newton
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Ukrainian forces have reportedly liberated three additional jurisdictions amid ongoing fighting in their country following Russian President Vladimir Putin’s recent invasion. The areas that are apparently newly free from Russian domination include the villages of Poltavka, Malynivka, and Vilkhivka; the first two locales are in the Zaporizhzhia region, while the third is in the area of Kharkiv. Across Ukraine, Russian invaders have repeatedly struggled to succeed at certain tactical objectives, although devastation among the civilian population has nonetheless continued to unfold. A U.S. Defense Department official recently stated that Russian occupiers had lost complete control over the large Ukrainian city of Kherson, although Ukrainian sources disputed this assessment.

As for the new victories over Russian invaders in those specific Ukrainian areas, The Kyiv Independent reported this weekend regarding the first two as follows: “Ukrainian forces liberate Poltavka, Malynivka. On March 26, Ukrainian forces launched successful counterattacks against Russian troops, ousting them from the temporarily-occupied villages in Zaporizhzhia Oblast. Heavy fighting occurred in both villages.” Information on the third liberation came from the Ukrainian government information source Ukrinform, which stated: “Ukrainian defenders liberated the village of Vilkhivka, [under 30] kilometers [from] Kharkiv, killing about 70 occupiers and taking captive another 27.” CNN reported Saturday that Oleh Syniehubov, the leader of the Kharkiv regional administration, said: “We are not only defending our positions, but also liberating our temporarily occupied land. Several settlements were liberated, and fighting for our territories is underway in the direction [of] Rohan. Fighting also continues in the Izium direction and Chuhuiv direction.”

The Ukrainian news outlet Euromaidan Press also reported on the Poltavka and Malynivka victories, explaining: “Armed Forces of Ukraine launched a counter-offensive to the northwest towards Mariupol, liberating Malynivka and Poltavka settlements, said Zaporizhia Oblast Military Administration.” Although it’s not alone in this respect, Mariupol has been a site of particularly serious concern amid the war. The city’s population was originally in the hundreds of thousands, and it’s been under devastating attacks from Russian forces, leaving civilians trapped there without access to necessities such as running water. In a single strike on a theater in the city that had been in use as a shelter, some 300 people are believed to have died. Tens of thousands of residents of the city have also been forcibly relocated by Russian forces to territories controlled by Putin’s side both inside and outside of Russia. Deaths from starvation and lack of necessary medicines have been reported in the city.

Russian invaders have seemingly sustained steep losses amid the ongoing war. As reported here previously, Ukraine’s defenders have apparently substantially added to the number of tanks under their control because of capturing Russian equipment. Overall, hundreds and hundreds of Russian tanks have reportedly been wiped off the battlefield, with some of these tanks operational when Ukrainian personnel have taken control of them. According to Oryx, a website collecting open-source information about losses in the war, Ukrainians have seen the loss of at least 74 tanks since the conflict with Russia began — but the country’s defenders have captured at least 118 tanks from Russian invaders. That’s a net gain. (That reporting circulated last week.) Russia’s other losses in Ukraine apparently include thousands of soldiers, including well over a dozen commanders and multiple generals.



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