Ukraine Says Situation in East Has 'Deteriorated Significantly'

Ukraine's commander-in-chief Oleksandr Syrsky said Saturday that the situation on the eastern front had worsened significantly as Russia claimed the capture of a village near the occupied industrial town of Avdiivka.

"The situation on the eastern front has deteriorated significantly in recent days," said Syrsky, who took over as commander-in-chief in February after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky relieved his popular predecessor, Valery Zaluzhny.

Russia's Defense Ministry, meanwhile, announced that its troops had "liberated" the village of Pervomaiske in the Donetsk region, about 11 kilometers west of the largely destroyed town of Avdiivka, captured by Russia earlier this year.

Ukraine has not yet commented on Russia's claim, and its army said Friday that it had repelled attacks on the village.

Syrsky spoke of "a significant intensification of the enemy's offensive after the presidential election in Russia" last month. The commander-in-chief added that decisions were being made "to strengthen the most problematic defence areas with electronic warfare and air defence."

In the southern Zaporizhzhia region, Moscow accused Ukraine on Saturday of killing 10 people in attacks on the occupied town of Tokmak, which fell to Russia at the start of the invasion.

Ukrainian authorities in Zaporizhzhia said Russia had struck the region more than 400 times over the last day, including from aircraft.

Kyiv has also said the situation around the eastern frontline city of Chasiv Yar is "difficult and tense," with the area coming under "constant fire."

Chasiv Yar lies 20 kilometres west of the town of Bakhmut, which was flattened by months of artillery fire before it was captured by Moscow last May.

Russia is now securing fresh territorial gains and trying to press forward against Ukrainian units, which are running low on munitions amid delays in Western military aid.

"The enemy is actively attacking our positions in the Lyman and Bakhmut sectors ... In the Pokrovsk sector, they are trying to break through our defence using dozens of tanks and armoured personnel carriers," Syrsky said.

"The issue of achieving technical superiority over the enemy in high-tech weapons has again arisen. Only this will enable us to defeat a larger enemy," he added.