The general commanding the Ukrainian counteroffensive in the south said his units continued to break through Russian defenses in Zaporizhzhia.
"On the left flank near Verbove, we broke through and continued to advance further," General Oleksandr Tarnavsky, commander of Ukraine's counteroffensive on the southern front, updated the progress of the fighting in Zaporizhzhia in a September 22 interview with CNN reporter Frederik Pleitgen.
Mr. Tarnavsky said that the units under his command could achieve even greater breakthroughs in the coming time, but admitted that the counter-offensive campaign was progressing more slowly than expected.
"The progress is not as fast as expected, not like in movies about World War II. The important thing is that we must not lose the current initiative," he stressed.
General Oleksandr Tarnavsky, commander of the southern counteroffensive, in an interview with CNN on September 22. Photo: CNN
Tarnavsky said Russia had deployed several small but well-positioned and effective defense groups. Ukrainian units gradually pushed back the Russian defenses through several attacks, but it took a long time.
He said that Ukrainian units operating on the southern front mainly do not use motor vehicles, so he is not worried about weather factors changing the speed of advance.
General Tarnavsky revealed that neither Ukraine nor Russia used large-scale formations of company, battalion or brigade size on the Zaporizhzhia front. Instead, the sides deployed small combat groups of 10-15 people each.
He asserted that the most valuable target ahead was the town of Tokmak, a Russian military logistics hub in the region. It was also the army’s first major target in the southern counterattack. He predicted that his units could advance even faster once they had passed Tokmak.
"Tokmak is the minimum target. Our biggest target is to control all the territory within the national border," he said.
The war situation in Zaporizhzhia. Graphics: WSJ
Kiev has claimed in recent weeks that its troops have broken through the enemy’s first line of defense in Zaporizhzhia, while Russian-appointed local officials have described the Ukrainian army’s advances as insignificant. In early September, the Russian military admitted it had made a tactical retreat from the village of Rabotino, one of the key strongholds on the first line of defense in Zaporizhzhia.
This week, CNN reported that Ukrainian units were about 20 kilometers from Tokmak, blocked by multiple layers of Russian defenses. Several videos circulating on social media showed Ukrainian units apparently breaking through Russian lines near the village of Verbove.
Ukraine launched a counteroffensive in June, after months of attacks deep inside Russian-controlled territory. However, the counteroffensive has been slow because the Russian army has prepared a complex network of defenses and deployed skilled forces to counter it.
Thanh Danh (According to CNN, AFP )
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