The general in command of Ukraine’s ground forces said on Sunday that Ukrainian forces had recaptured the eastern village of Klishchiivka on the southern flank of Bakhmut, which the Russians claimed control of in January.
“Klishchiivka was cleared of the Russians and liberated,” Alexander Syrskyi, commander of Ukraine’s ground forces, said in a post on the Telegram messaging app.
A sniper of Ukraine’s 3rd Separate Assault Brigade takes a position during a reconnaissance mission, amid Russia’s attack on Ukraine, near Bakhmut, Ukraine, on 7th September, 2023. PICTURE: Reuters/Stringer/File photo
Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko also confirmed on Telegram that the village was recaptured in heavy fighting by the “Liut” national police united assault brigade, the 80th airborne assault brigade and the 5th assault brigade. Reuters was unable to verify the battlefield report.
Klishchiivka is around nine kilometres south of Bakhmut and had a pre-war population of around 400 people. It is several kilometres north of Andriivka, which was recaptured earlier this week.
Both settlements were substantially destroyed in months of fighting for Bakhmut.
The Ukrainian President’s chief of staff Andriy Yermak on Sunday published a photo on Telegram showing five Ukrainian servicemen with Ukrainian national and military flags in their hands against the background of a destroyed building.
“Ukraine always gets its own back,” Yermak wrote.
The Ukrainian military said earlier on Sunday that Kyiv’s troops “achieved success in the Klishchiivka district of the Donetsk region, forcing the enemy out of their positions”.
Bakhmut fell into Russian hands in May after months of heavy fighting. For several months now, Ukrainian forces have been conducting offensives north and south of the city in order to dislodge Russian units from it.
Ukrainian military analysts said this week the liberation of settlements near Bakhmut would allow the military to advance from the southern flank in the Bakhmut area, gaining control of the heights.
We rely on our readers to fund Sight's work - become a financial supporter today!
For more information, head to our Subscriber's page.
Meanwhile, Ukraine’s Air Force said on the Telegram messaging app that Russia launched a combined drone and missile attack on Ukraine early on Sunday, targeting chiefly the southern parts of the Odesa region and hitting an agriculture facility there.
Russia launched six Iranian-made Shahed drones and 10 cruise missiles, with Ukraine’s forces destroying six drones and six missiles before they hit their target, the Air Force said.
The situation in Odesa and its ports has been watched carefully by grain markets, as Kyiv said on Saturday that two cargo vessels arrived there to use a temporary corridor to sail into Black Sea ports and load grain for African and Asian markets.
“Fighter aircraft, anti-aircraft missile units, mobile fire groups and other means of attack were involved in repelling the air attack,” the Air Force said.
Odesa Governor Oleh Kiper said on Telegram that a grain silo and agricultural fields were damaged in Berezivskiy district in the eastern part of the region.
“Fortunately, there were no casualties,” Kiper said.
Reuters could not independently verify the report and there was no immediate comment from Russia.
The entire territory of Ukraine was under air raid alerts for several hours.
Ukraine last month announced a “humanitarian corridor” in the Black Sea to release ships trapped in its ports since the start of the war in February, 2022, and to circumvent a de facto blockade after Russia abandoned a deal to let Kyiv export grain.
– With LIDIA KELLY in Melbourne, Australia
