a few seconds agoUkraine says Russia is conducting counterattacks in Harkiv region
Periskopi(4 years ago)
(4 years ago)The Ukrainian Army said Russian forces have launched counterattacks around Harkiwi in an effort to regain lost territory and after being forced back to the border. Meanwhile, a Russian commander of an elite tank unit reportedly has been suspended from work due to failure to take control of Harkiv, the city [...]
At Velika Komisuvka's residence, Russian forces have suffered major losses, forcing them to flee positions they had earlier occupied, Ukrainian Armed Forces General Staff said on May 19th.
Meanwhile, the governor of the Russian region, Kursk, said on May 19th that one person has been killed and others injured, as he said, a Ukrainian attack on a village located near the border.
The British Defence Ministry said on May 19th that Lieutenant General Serhiy Kissel, who led an elite tank unit, has been suspended due to his failure to take control of Harkiv.
This minister said Kissel is one of several senior Russian military officials who in recent weeks have quit their jobs due to poor performance in the first phase of the invasion of Ukraine.
Among the Russian commanders, likely fired, is Deputy Admiral Igor Osipov, who heads the Russian fleet in the Black Sea. He is believed to have left work after the Russian warship, Moscow, sank in April, British military intelligence said.
Valeriy Gerasimov, chief of the Russian Army General Staff, is probably still in this post, Britain said, adding that it is unclear if this general still has the confidence of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Meanwhile, an unidentified NATO military official told CNN that the moment the conflict has returned in favour of Ukraine, even though the allies do not expect major progress in the coming weeks from neither side.
Ukrainian officials said 18 May that they have tried to negotiate the release of remaining soldiers at the Azovstal steel plant in Ukraine, but that the outcome of the bloodiest battle still remains unresolved.
Russia's Defence Ministry spokesman General General Igor Konasenkov said that almost 1,000 Ukrainian fighters located in Azovstal, the last Ukrainian resistance in Mariupol, are “-dored” through May 18th.
All soldiers reportedly have moved to territories east of Ukraine, which are under the control of pro-Russian separatists.
Ukrainian authorities have not commented on the number, and Ukrainian Deputy Defence Minister Hanna Malyar said negotiations on the release of fighters are continuing, while plans are to reveal all persons still within Azovstal.
Denis Pushil, leader of pro-Russian separatists in the eastern region of Ukraine, said the main commanders of Ukrainian fighters in Azovstal are still within this factory.
