“Today I held a regular meeting of the Headquarters. The main focus, of course, is the situation at the front. First of all, in the Donbass and in the southern directions. The situation is very tough. The Bakhmut, Uhldar and other directions in the Donetsk region are constant Russian assaults. Constant attempts to break through our defenses” – said the head of state.
Zelensky stressed that “the enemy does not count people” and, despite his numerous losses, maintains a high intensity of attacks.
“In some of its wars, Russia lost, on the whole, less than it puts there, including near Bakhmut. And this can only be countered by extreme stamina and a complete understanding that, by defending the Donbass, our soldiers are defending all of Ukraine. We are doing everything to keep our pressure still outweighed the assault capabilities of the occupiers,” the president said.
The Ukrainian leader stressed that it is very important to maintain the momentum of defense support from Ukraine’s partners, since the speed of arms deliveries has been and will be one of the key factors in this war.
“Russia hopes to prolong the war, to exhaust our forces. So, we must make time our weapon. We must speed up events, speed up deliveries and open up new necessary weapons options for Ukraine,” Zelensky summed up.
At the end of August 2022, the Armed Forces of Ukraine controlled 45% of the territory of the Donetsk region. Later it became known about the liberation of new territories.
Bakhmut, according to the OVA’s information as of the beginning of January, has been destroyed by more than 60%, Avdiivka has “already been virtually destroyed to the ground,” stressed the head of the Donetsk OVA, Pavel Kirilenko.
Now the most intense fighting is taking place in the Donbass, in particular in the area of Bakhmut and Vuhledar in the Donetsk region. Zelensky stressed that the invaders are not just storming the positions of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, but destroying these cities.
In attempts to storm Bakhmut, the Russian invaders lose up to a battalion of manpower per day, Serhiy Cherevaty, a representative of the eastern group of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, said on January 26. For two months of attempts to break through the Ukrainian defenses in this direction, “the losses of the enemy are commensurate with two Chechen wars,” he added. On January 27, Cherevaty also informed about the heavy losses of the invaders in the Ugledar region.
