Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Monday that the situation in Ukraine's Donbas region is "difficult" as Russian forces continue to use available resources to achieve some advances.
"The front line—Bakhmut, Kreminna and other areas in Donbas—which now require maximum strength and concentration. The situation there is difficult, acute. The occupiers are using all the resources available to them—and these are significant resources—to squeeze out at least some advance," Zelensky said in a public address without revealing details about the type of resources that Russians are using to make progress in Ukraine.
Kreminna, a city located within the Luhansk oblast, hasn't been liberated yet even though Russian forces withdrew and moved to Rubizhne, a nearby city that is a little more than 9 miles from the front line, according to Serhiy Haidai, the Ukrainian chief of the Luhansk Regional Military Administration.
"The reports that our military has already liberated Kreminna or at least advanced to its outskirts are not true, but the fighting is going on near the city and I can say that the command of a certain echelon that was stationed in Kreminna has now been moved to Rubizhne," Haidai said on Monday, Ukrinform reported.
Haidai also said that the Russians failed to organize a counteroffensive toward Lyman, a city in the Donetsk region, after Ukrainian forces were able to avert this plan.
"They had such plans, but thanks to the Ukrainian Command, which exposed their plot and saw the entire map of military developments, Ukraine's Defense Forces prevented the occupying troops from implementing their plans. They didn't succeed in [the] counteroffensive. But they are now pulling up the reserves," he said.
Zelensky on Monday praised the efforts to prevent Russian attacks and thanked Ukrainian forces who were able to hold "their positions firmly, stand strong, and who nevertheless find opportunities not only to not lose anything, but also to drive the occupiers out, to 'subtract' them."
"Today I want to celebrate the 10th Separate Mountain Assault Brigade for capturing the occupiers in the Donetsk region. It is very important. This will enable us to release more Ukrainians," he said. "I will also celebrate the 80th and 95th Separate Airborne Assault Brigades for the successful destruction of the enemy force in the Lyman direction. Well done, guys! The more the occupiers lose, the more time we all gain for Ukraine."
Earlier this month, the Ukrainian president made similar remarks about Donbas, describing the assault in the region as "very difficult" as Russian forces had effectively "destroyed" Bakhmut.
Zelensky said at the time that he had "discussed the situation on the front line and winter prospects on the battlefield" during a conversation with British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak. The Ukrainian president said areas of Donbas had become lifeless wastelands after ongoing fights with Russian forces.
"The front-line situation remains very difficult in the key areas of Donbas—Bakhmut, Soledar, Maryinka, Kreminna..." Zelensky said at the time. "For a long time, there is no living place left on the land of these areas that has not been damaged by shells and fire. The occupiers actually destroyed Bakhmut, another Donbas city that the Russian army turned into burnt ruins."
Newsweek reached out to the Russian foreign affairs ministry for comment.
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