Ukrainian forces destroyed 18 of Moscow's armored vehicles during a Russian push in the south of the country on Saturday, according to Kyiv, as the Kremlin's forces gain ground along the eastern front lines.
Russian forces lost three tanks in the attack in Ukraine's southern Zaporizhzhia region on Saturday, Ukraine's western operational command said in a statement on Sunday.
Ukraine's military did not provide additional details, but shared a video purportedly showing the targeting of the Russian vehicles along the southern front. The clip was also shared by the country's General Staff.
Newsweek could not independently verify the battlefield reports, nor the footage published by Ukraine's military. The Russian Defense Ministry has been approached for comment via email.
Since October, Russia has been slowly advancing around the city of Avdiivka, close to the regional capital of Donetsk, Donetsk City. On Saturday, Ukraine said it was withdrawing from the settlement to avoid its forces being encircled by Russian troops.
"Our soldiers honorably fulfilled their military duty, did everything possible to destroy the best Russian military units, [and] inflicted significant losses on the enemy in manpower and equipment," Ukraine's army chief, Colonel General Oleksandr Syrskyi, said in a statement on Saturday.
Russia said it was working to establish full control over the city and clear final pockets of Ukrainian control.
Сили оборони на Запорізькому напрямку розгромили вчорашній наступ росіянЗнищено 18 одиниць техніки (з них 3 танки), близько 70 російських солдат...
A prominent Russian military blogger, Rybar, said on Sunday that Russian forces were clearing and demining the areas under Moscow's control in Avdiivka.
Russia has also pressed along Ukraine's northeastern defenses in recent weeks.
But fighting has rumbled on in the south of Ukraine. Kyiv's military said on Sunday it had repelled more than a dozen attacks on its positions around the Zaporizhzhia village of Robotyne.
The Russian Defense Ministry said on Sunday that it had taken out 70 Ukrainian soldiers and an infantry fighting vehicle along the section of the front line that includes Robotyne and the nearby village of Verbove.
The Rybar account said on Sunday that Russian units had advanced up to two kilometers in some areas of Zaporizhzhia in recent hours, without elaborating. Newsweek has reached out to the Ukrainian military for comment.
They're back to doing what they know best. russians attempted an assault in Zaporizhzhia yesterday, and were stopped. 18 destroyed vehicles (3 tanks) and 70 dead. The operational command "West" did not provide a location, but there were talks about assaults in the Robotyne… pic.twitter.com/Uo5OJeN4ZU
— WarTranslated (Dmitri) (@wartranslated) February 18, 2024
Russian forces advanced in western Zaporizhzhia, recapturing a position south of Robotyne, the U.S. think tank, the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) evaluated on Saturday. Several Russian military bloggers had reported a new offensive push from Moscow around the village and that the Kremlin's forces were "actively storming the settlement," the think tank said in its latest update.
Ukraine took control of Robotyne in late August as part of its summer 2023 counteroffensive.
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
About the writer
Ellie Cook is a Newsweek security and defense reporter based in London, U.K. Her work focuses largely on the Russia-Ukraine ... Read more
