MOSCOW (dpa-AFX) – The counter-offensive launched by Ukraine in the south of the country has largely failed in the view of Russia’s Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu. “The Ukrainian armed forces continue to attempt attacks in the area between Mykolaiv and Kryvyi Rih and in other directions, the enemy is suffering heavy casualties,” Shoigu said at a briefing broadcast on the ministry’s Telegram channel on Friday. Kiev’s only goal in the offensive is “to create the illusion among Western curators that the Ukrainian army is capable of attacking.”
The aim of the Ukrainian attacks is to drive the Russian troops stationed west of the Dnipro back behind the river in the Cherson region. In contrast, Shoigu declared that Russian troops had advanced to the territorial border with the neighboring Mykolayiv region. The information cannot be verified independently.
Shoigu also spoke of further successes of the Russian army in eastern Ukraine. There the troops last took the heavily fortified town of Pisky directly in front of Donetsk. Russian sources had already reported taking Pisky for the first time a month ago./bal/DP/jha