Ukraine has pushed back against Russia’s assertion that its forces seized more than 1,800sq/km of territory and almost 100 settlements, including the eastern town of Dobropillia, since 1 September.
On Wednesday, Russia’s chief of General Staff, Valery Gerasimov, told President Vladimir Putin that Russian troops had taken 92 Ukrainian settlements and made substantial territorial gains since the beginning of September.
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Andriy Kovaliov, a spokesman for Ukraine’s General Staff, rejected the account as untrue.
“In fact, through their active operations, the Ukrainian Defence Forces have liberated more territory since the beginning of autumn than the enemy has managed to capture,” he said in an emailed statement.
Ukrainian rescuers work outside residential buildings damaged following a Russian missile attack in Zaporizhzhia
“The Russian military leadership continues to create an illusion of major victories for its political leadership and domestic audience,” he said.
Russia’s progress along the front line has slowed this year, but its forces have continued pressing toward the so-called “fortress belt” cities of Sloviansk and Kramatorsk. Capturing those cities would move Moscow closer to its goal of taking control of the entire industrialised Donetsk region.
Mr Kovaliov also denied Mr Gerasimov’s claims that Russian troops had reached the outskirts of Kramatorsk and were moving through the suburbs of Sloviansk.
He said Dobropillia, southwest of the two cities, remained under Ukrainian control despite sustained Russian attacks.
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Reuters could not independently verify the competing battlefield claims.
As much of the front remains largely fixed across a deadly “kill zone”, Russia and Ukraine have stepped up their air campaigns.
Russia launched hundreds of ballistic missiles during the summer and early autumn and is widely expected to continue targeting critical infrastructure, including heating and power facilities, as winter approaches.
Ukraine, whose missile arsenal is considerably smaller, has responded with hundreds of long-range drone strikes on Russian refineries, ships and warehouses.
Russia says it hit Ukrainian steel plants, power infrastructure and ships
Russia said it had carried out a major overnight assault on Ukrainian infrastructure, including the country’s largest steelworks in Kryvyi Rih and vessels operating from the Ukrainian port of Odesa.
The plant is owned by steelmaker Arcelor Mittal, which halted operations in September after a series of Russian ballistic missile strikes. It did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Russia’s defence ministry said the facility supplied steel products to Ukraine’s military-industrial complex.
The ministry said Russian forces had also struck an electricity substation in Zhytomyr in the northwest and another steel plant in Zaporizhzhia, a city close to the front line.
It added that a cargo vessel in the Black Sea had been hit, alleging that it was transporting military supplies to Odesa.
Later, the ministry said afternoon strikes had hit a vehicle-repair plant in Lutsk, an electricity substation in the western Ternopil region and a second cargo vessel south of Odesa, which it claimed was carrying military and dual-use cargo.
Reuters could not independently verify the ministry’s reports.
Russia may escalate air attacks on western Ukraine, Zelensky says
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky warned that Russia could intensify air attacks on western Ukraine, saying Moscow might deploy ballistic missile systems in Belarus and urging Kyiv’s allies to provide additional air-defence support.
Mr Zelensky told reporters in a WhatsApp media chat that Russia wanted to station ballistic missile systems in Belarus, a move that would increase the threat facing Ukraine’s western regions.
Western Ukraine is far from the front line and has remained a relative haven during more than four years of war, drawing many displaced people and businesses.
