V. Gerasimov promised to capture more cities and towns in Eastern Ukraine.
This visit takes place as Moscow’s offensive surpasses the one-and-a-half-year mark and intensifies this summer, with US-mediated peace talks stalled.
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In a video released by the ministry, V. Gerasimov stated that Russian forces are moving towards the city of Sloviansk in Eastern Ukraine and praised their “success.”
“The offensive is proceeding at an unabated pace on all fronts,” he said. “There are four kilometers left to the eastern outskirts of Sloviansk.”
The news agency AFP cannot independently verify this claim.
Russia has not softened its maximalist demand that Ukraine cede the remaining part of Donbas to it, and the Kremlin has ordered troops to take control of the entire Donetsk region.
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Sloviansk and nearby Kramatorsk are the last major Ukrainian-controlled centers in Donetsk region, belonging to the so-called fortress belt – a chain of heavily fortified defense lines built by Kyiv since 2014.
Sloviansk has been a symbol of Ukrainian resistance since 2014, when it was held for about three months by pro-Russian separatist forces before Kyiv recaptured it.
On Wednesday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky appointed Andriy Biletsky and Denys Prokopenko – widely regarded as two of the country’s best commanders – to lead the region’s defense.
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