Russia amasses forces on four axes in Ukraine’s east - deputy defense chief

That’s according to the Deputy Minister of Defense, Hanna Maliar, who spoke on the air of the national telethon, Ukrinform reports.

"This is the full-scale offensive by the Russians in the east, which has been going on since January. These are four directions: Bakhmut, Maryinka, Avdiivka, and Lyman, where the enemy has amassed its professional strike forces. It is not only the Wagnerites, there are also special operations forces. They have already thrown everyone there. Now their goal is to advance to the borders of Luhansk and Donetsk regions. The ultimate objective is seizing the entire territory of Ukraine. That is why we must understand that we, in return, must put in more efforts there to stop them," said Malyar.

She noted that the Russians are losing to Ukrainian forces in urban warfare, and that is why they are using today "the terrible tactics that they have already used in Syria – they simply raze houses, buildings, and structures to the ground."

"And in this way, they practically deprive our defenders of the opportunity to hold their positions. This is their style of war, they can't do it any other way because they don't know how to do it otherwise," said the deputy minister.

She emphasized that it is extremely important for Ukraine to hold on to Bakhmut and not allow the enemy to advance further.

In addition, according to Maliar, it should be understood that throughout these eight months, Ukrainian fighters have destroyed thousands of the most professional Russian soldiers, thus reducing their offensive potential. "Therefore, by focusing on the battles there, we do not allow the enemy to advance to some other locations," she stressed.

As Ukrinform reported earlier, over the past two weeks, the Russian Federation has lost almost 4,500 servicemen from the regular armed forces and fighters from the Wagner Group, who were killed or wounded in the area of the town of Bakhmut, Donetsk region.