KIEV, Jan 5 (Reuters) – Ukrainian and Russian forces fought in the eastern region on Thursday as Kyiv tried to push back occupying forces. Meanwhile, President Volodymyr Zelensky urged Western powers to equip their armies with heavy tanks to increase their firepower.
The Ukrainian military said Russian forces were concentrating on attacks in the Bakhmut district of the Donetsk region, but failed in the Avdiuka and Kupiansk districts.
Located on the strategic supply line between Donetsk and Luhansk regions. Controlling this city, whose pre-war population was between her 70,000 and her 80,000, would give Russia a foothold in her two larger cities, Kramatorsk and Sloviansk.
An estimated 800 Russian soldiers have died in the past day, mainly in fighting in Donetsk, according to the Ukrainian military. This figure represents an enormous number of lives lost in a single day and could not be independently verified.
French President Emmanuel Macron said Wednesday that the French government will send an AMX-10 RC light armored fighting vehicle to support the war effort. Zelensky thanked Macron but said:
“There is no good reason why Ukraine has not yet been supplied with Western tanks.”
The Ukrainian leader also said his troops outside Bakhmut had inflicted heavy casualties on the enemy, and said Russia was building up its forces in the region.
According to the Ukrainian military, an unspecified number of civilian casualties have been attributed to Russian air, missile and rocket attacks on Bakhmut and his two other Donetsk cities, Kostyantinivka and Krahove.
Russia denies targeting civilians in its so-called military operations in Ukraine.
Asked on state television about a possible Ukrainian counteroffensive in the region, Lugansk Governor Haydai said the cities of Rubishne and Siberodnetsk had been destroyed by Russian occupying forces and could no longer be used as fortifications.
As the war continued, the Kyiv government repeatedly asked its Western allies for heavier combat vehicles such as the Abrams and German-made Leopard tanks. US President Joe Biden said Wednesday that the US is considering sending Bradley combat vehicles to Ukraine. The Bradley has a powerful gun and has been the mainstay of US troop transports since the mid-1980s.
However, Biden’s decision did not result in sending Abrams tanks, which Ukraine was aiming for.
The U.S. is preparing another arms package that may be announced soon, in addition to about $21.3 billion in security assistance to Ukraine so far.
The United States is increasing the capabilities of its deployed weapons, including the shoulder-launched Stinger and Javelin anti-tank missiles, the HIMARS missile system, and NASAMS surface-to-air missiles. During President Zelensky’s visit to Washington last month, the US promised to send Patriot missile systems to repel Russian missile and drone attacks.
Russia launched its invasion on February 24, citing threats to its own security and the need to protect Russian-speaking peoples. Ukraine and its allies have accused Russia of waging a unilateral war for territorial gains.
