Russia says ‘repelled’ several Ukrainian attacks

The Russian army on Friday said it had repelled several attacks on the southern Ukrainian front, where fighting sharply intensified this week amid expectations of a major Kyiv offensive.

The statement came after Russian war correspondents had reported “active combat” in the southern Zaporizhzhia region.

“Over the past day, the armed forces of Ukraine continued attempts to conduct offensive operations in the South-Donetsk and Zaporizhzhia directions,” the Russian army said.

It said they were “decisively” pushed back by Russian troops and planes.

The Russian army said it had repelled four attacks “carried out by forces of up to two battalion tactical groups, reinforced with tanks” near the village of Levadnoye in the Zaporizhzhia region and in Novosleka village in the Donetsk region.

The other two attacks were near the Novodanilovka and Malaya Tokmachka in Zaporizhzhia.

There are expectations of a major Ukrainian offensive, with some analysts saying it has already begun.

“At the moment, active combat is ongoing in the region between Orekhovo and Tokmak,” Vladimir Rogov, an official with Russian occupation authorities, wrote on the Telegram messaging service, referring to a locality known in Ukrainian as Orikhiv.

Alexander Sladkov, a Russian war correspondent, wrote on Telegram of “intense fighting” in the area.
“The enemy is undertaking incredible efforts, attacks. In vain. Our forces are holding on. The front line is stable,” he wrote.

This could not be independently verified.

The Ukrainian army meanwhile said only “the adversary remains on the defensive” in Zaporizhzhia.

It said it destroyed four missiles and 10 drones, out of some 20 that Russia had fired at “military installations and critical infrastructure.”