WESTERN PERSPECTIVE

Ukraine says it struck Russian military airfield, explosives factory

Ukrainian forces attacked infrastructure at a military airfield in Russia's Lipetsk region and an explosives-manufacturing enterprise in the Nizhny Novgorod region, Kyiv's General Staff said on Sunday.

The confirmation came after Russian officials and Telegram channels said Ukraine had targeted those regions in an overnight drone attack.

The Ukrainian General Staff added that it was still assessing the extent of damages.

** Russian forces storming town in eastern Ukraine, bloggers say

Russian forces are fighting street-to-street battles with Ukrainian troops in the outskirts of the eastern Ukrainian town of Selydove as Moscow's forces push to gain control over the whole of the Donbas region, according to pro-Russian bloggers.

Russian forces, which President Vladimir Putin ordered into Ukraine in February 2022, advanced in September at their fastest rate since March 2022, according to open source data, despite Ukraine taking a part of Russia's Kursk region.

The thrust of the Russian advance over recent months has been in eastern Ukraine's Donbas region, over which Putin says he wants to gain full control.

In recent weeks, Russia has surrounded towns in Donetsk region and then slowly constricted them until Ukrainian units are forced to withdraw. According to bloggers they are doing the same to Selydove, which had a pre-war population of over 20,000.

"Street by street fighting is going on in the town," according to Yuri Podolyaka, a prominent Ukrainian-born, pro-Russian military blogger. "The assault on Selydove has intensified."

Other pro-Russian bloggers published video of intensive shelling of Selydove. Reuters was unable to immediately verify the footage. The Russian defence ministry did not comment.

The General Staff of Ukraine's military, in a late evening report on Sunday, said Ukrainian forces had repelled 41 Russian attacks around several towns and villages, including Selydove. The report said four battles were still raging in the area.

The popular Ukrainian war blog DeepState showed Selydove to be in Ukrainian hands.

Russia controls about 80% of the Donbas, which covers an area about half the size of the U.S. state of Ohio, and is pushing westwards along about 100 km of the 1,200-km front around the tactically important towns of Pokrovsk and Kurakhove.

The 2-1/2-year-old Ukraine war is entering what Russian officials say is its most dangerous phase as Russian forces advance and the West ponders how the war will end.

Ukraine wants NATO membership, a step that Russia has said would be unacceptable. The United States and key NATO powers have not publicly endorsed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy's call for an immediate NATO-membership invitation.

Russian forces hold about a fifth of Ukraine and control 98.5% of the Luhansk region and 60% of the Donetsk region. The two regions make up the Donbas, the cradle of the war.

After a pro-Russian president was toppled in Ukraine's 2014 Maidan Revolution, Russia annexed Crimea and pro-Russian protests broke out in parts of the Donbas, where Moscow began supporting separatist forces.

RUSSIAN PERSPECTIVE

Ukrainian forces lost up to 460 troops in Battlegroup Center responsibility zone

The Battlegroup Center defeated five brigades of the Ukrainian armed forces in the Donetsk People's Republic in one day and repelled nine counterattacks, the Ukrainian army lost up to 460 servicemen, the Russian Defense Ministry reported.

"Units of the Battlegroup Center continued to advance deep into the enemy's defenses, inflicted losses on the manpower and equipment of the 150th Mechanized, 25th Airborne, 59th Motorized Infantry, 5th Assault Brigades of the Ukrainian armed forces and the 101st Defense Brigade in the areas of the settlements of Dimitrov, Dzerzhinsk, Novotroitskoye, Shevchenko and Tsukurino of the Donetsk People's Republic. Nine counterattacks by the 53rd, 93rd, 100th Mechanized, 68th Jaeger Brigades, 49th, 425th Assault Battalions of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the 37th Marine Brigade and the Lyut Assault Brigade of the National Police of Ukraine were repelled," the ministry reported.

According to the ministry, the enemy lost up to 460 servicemen, a US-made M117 armored personnel carrier, two Kozak combat armored vehicles, five cars, a 203-mm Pion self-propelled artillery unit, and a 122-mm Grad multiple launch rocket system.

Kiev forces lost 110 troops in Battlegroup East responsibility zone

The Battlegroup East group of forces defeated a brigade of the Ukrainian armed forces in the area of Dobrovolye in the Donetsk People's Republic and repelled a counterattack, the enemy lost up to 110 servicemen in 24 hours, the Russian Defense Ministry reported.

"Units of the Battlegroup East group of forces occupied more advantageous positions, defeated the manpower and equipment of the 72nd mechanized brigade of the Ukrainian armed forces in the area of the settlement of Dobrovolye in the Donetsk People's Republic. They also repelled the enemy's counterattack," the Russian Defense Ministry reported.

According to the ministry, the enemy's losses amounted to 110 servicemen, an armored combat vehicle, three cars and a Polish-made 155-mm Krab self-propelled howitzer.

Kiev forces’ daily losses in Battlegroup West responsibility zone exceed 450 troops

The Ukrainian armed forces lost more than 450 servicemen in a day in the area of responsibility of the Russia’s army’s Battlegroup West, the defense ministry reported.

"Three counterattacks of the assault groups of the 14th mechanized brigade of the Ukrainian armed forces were repelled. The enemy lost more than 450 servicemen, a US-made M113 armored personnel carrier, a pickup truck, a Polish-made 155-mm Krab self-propelled howitzer, a 122-mm D-30 howitzer, a UK-made 105-mm L-119 gun, an Enclave-N electronic warfare station, and an AN/TPQ-50 counter-battery radar made in the USA," the report says.

As the ministry noted, the units of the Battlegroup West improved their tactical position, inflicted losses on the manpower and equipment of the 54th, 60th, 67th, 116th mechanized brigades of the Ukrainian armed forces and the 119th defense brigade in the areas of the settlements of Kupyansk, Peschanoye in the Kharkov region, Prishib and Terny in the Donetsk People's Republic.

Ukrainian armed forces lose up to 90 servicemen in Battlegroup North responsibility zone

The Ukrainian armed forces lost up to 90 servicemen in the area of responsibility of the Battlegroup North in a day, the defense ministry added.

"In the Kharkov direction, the units of the Battlegroup North defeated units of the 57th motorized infantry and 92nd Airborne Assault Brigades of the Ukrainian armed forces in the areas of the settlements of Liptsy and Volchansk in the Kharkov region. The losses of the Ukrainian armed forces amounted to 90 servicemen and a 122 mm D-30 howitzer," the report says.

Kiev forces lost up to 645 troops in a day in Battlegroup South responsibility zone

The Ukrainian armed forces lost up to 645 servicemen in the zone of responsibility of the Russian Battlegroup South, the ministry reported.

"Units of the Battlegroup South improved the situation along the forward edge, defeated the formations of the 10th mountain assault, 23rd, 54th, 116th mechanized, 56th motorized infantry, 79th airborne assault and 46th airmobile brigades of the Ukrainian armed forces in the areas of the settlements of Reznikovka, Seversk, Verolyubovka, Dalneye, Kurakhovo, Dachnoye and Konstantinovka of the Donetsk People's Republic. They repelled two counterattacks by units of the 81st airmobile brigade of the Ukrainian armed forces," the ministry reported.

According to the Russian Defense Ministry, the enemy's losses totaled 645 servicemen, two pickup trucks and a US-made 105-mm M119 gun.

Reuters/Tass