In Bakhmut sector, UAF partially succeeds on southern flank

Colonel Serhiy Cherevaty, spokesman for the Eastern Group of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, said this on the air of the United News telethon, according to Ukrinform.

"Our troops have had partial success on the southern flank, consolidating their positions. Overall, the initiative belongs to the Defense Forces. We continue our daily combat work step by step, preserving our personnel as much as possible. We are moving towards occupying the dominant heights and pushing the enemy out of its frontier," he informed.

At the same time, Cherevaty emphasized that the enemy is putting up incredible resistance - 538 times in a day they fired at Ukrainian positions with various types of artillery, and carried out two air raids.

In total, according to the spokesperson, five combat engagements took place in this area, in which 71 occupants were killed, 141 wounded, one captured, four enemy tanks, an airborne assault vehicle, two Grad MLRS, three cannons, two Hyacinth-S self-propelled artillery systems, two anti-tank missile systems, one Strela-10 surface-to-air missile system, a Murom-M surveillance system and five unmanned aerial vehicles were shot down.

In addition, Cherevaty confirmed that the so-called 'Kadyrov's troops' were moved to the area of Klishchiyivka, the Donetsk region.

According to the colonel, their appearance was not caused by reinforcement or the desire to frighten the Ukrainian military, "because the battles with them showed clearly that their business is gendarme and police work, and they do not represent any value as military men."

He informed that Kadyrov's troops had retreated after suffering losses.

"I think that if they try to get involved in battles with battle-hardened, fire-scarred Ukrainian combat brigades again, they will meet the same fate as the Wagner group, which was completely destroyed," summarized the spokesman for the Eastern Group of the Ukrainian Armed Forces.

As reported, the Ukrainian Defense Forces continue to conduct offensive operations in the Bakhmut, Melitopol and Berdiansk directions.