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A volcanic crater appeared next to a damaged hotel building on Sunday after shelling in the Russian-invaded eastern Ukrainian city of Kramatorsk, Ukraine’s Donetsk city. Ukrainian troops pushed back Russian troops from occupied territory in the northeast of the country.Photo by Sergey Sestak/EPA-EFE
September 18 (UPI) – Russian troops continue ‘pointless’ offensive operations near Donetsk city in Donbas region Ukraineanalysts said Saturday.
According to the Institute for War Studies, a Washington, D.C.-based think tank in analysis Late Saturday, Russian troops did not conduct an effective offensive operation instead of trying to defend against Ukrainian forces that had advanced and reclaimed occupied territory in recent weeks.
Donetsk and Luhansk provinces, of which Russia at risk of failurewhich together make up the larger Donbas region in eastern Ukraine.
The Donbass have been largely controlled by pro-Russian separatists since the illegal annexation of the Ukrainian territory of Crimea by Russia in 2014.
Russian President Vladimir Putin recognized Luhansk and Donetsk as independent republics before the invasion began on February 24, and is expected to try to annex the region to Russia in the coming months.
According to the think tank, Russian troops are attacking the city of Donetsk because of its “emotional significance to the inhabitants who support the war” but little else of importance within the war’s scope.
Meanwhile, Russian troops have chosen not to rush reinforcements to defend their control of eastern Kharkiv province, making them “very vulnerable to Ukrainian efforts to retake the area”.
“Like the Kyiv region, the Chernihiv region and the Sumy region, like the Kharkiv region now, we will liberate other regions and all our lands,” the Ukrainian president said Vladimir Zelensky sunday said in a message Post to Facebook.
“Wherever there is Ukraine, there is our flag, and this atrocity – racism, repeating the mistakes of the Nazis – will cease to exist.”
Ukrainian efforts to clear land in southern Ukraine intensified over the weekend as Ukrainian troops carried out strikes on key Russian supply lines and military installations.
Ukrainian officials Saturday Claims its military has struck a cotton mill in Kherson, which the Russian army uses as a storage facility and a court building used by the Kremlin-backed military administration.
Russian military blogger also Share video clips On the telegram of the exchange of fire on the streets of a city occupied by Russia.
Zelensky’s senior adviser Mikhailo Podoljak said in a statement On Twitter, the exchange of fire between Russian troops was to “divide the spoils before they escape, taking into account news of the approaching Ukrainian armed forces.”
British Ministry of Defence said in information update On Sunday, Russia “increased its targeting of civilian infrastructure, even though it may not think it will have an immediate military impact,” last week.
The MoD said: “Such missions include striking the power grid, as well as a dam on the Kreveri in Khurec.”
“As a result of the setback on the front line, Russia may have expanded its preparedness to strike directly in an attempt to directly undermine the morale of the Ukrainian people and government.”
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