A Polish volunteer lost his life in the fighting
A Polish volunteer lost his life in the fighting in Ukraine, and two other Poles who were wounded a few days ago are in a serious condition, Minister without portfolio Michal Dworczyk announced on Twitter on Saturday in Warsaw.
According to the minister, the condition of the two wounded soldiers does not permit their repatriation.
He also announced that one of the two Poles who were wounded last week returned home to Poland with minor injuries, and the other was transported from Dnipro to Kyiv.
The Polish authorities do not deny that Polish volunteers also take part in the fighting in Ukraine on the side of Ukraine, but they do not disclose their number. (MTI)
The Russians have opened a new front, the Ukrainians are preparing for a counterattack
Ukrainian military reports reported heavy fighting along the line from Liman to Kupyansk, and to the south at Avdiyivka, on the outskirts of the Russian-held city of Donetsk. Meanwhile, in recent weeks, the intensity of fighting at Bakhmut, the main source of Russian operations, has decreased, reports the Reuters.
Both areas were important Russian targets during the winter campaign to fully occupy Ukraine’s industrialized Donbass region. The offensive has so far produced little result, despite the fact that thousands of soldiers on both sides lost their lives during the bloodiest battles of the war. From Friday to Saturday, in the northern part of the front, the Ukrainian artillery attacked the highway used to supply Kreminna, which is an important supply line for the invasion forces, with French TRF-1 guns.
As Reuters summarizes, the front lines have hardly moved since November, despite the intense fighting. Ukraine retook territory in the second half of 2022, but since then has mostly been on the defensive, while Russia is attacking with hundreds of thousands of newly called up reservists and convicts recruited from prison, mainly around Bahmut.
As winter turns to spring, the main question in Ukraine is how long Russia can sustain the offensive, and when and if Ukraine can reverse the momentum with a counterattack.
In this regard, on Thursday, the commander of the Ukrainian ground forces said that the Russian attack at Bakhmut seems to be losing its momentum, and Kiev may launch an attack very soon. As he said, the Ukrainian army has already made up for the losses on this front, but Russia has not yet been able to do so. .
In Bahmut itself, Ukrainian troops that weeks ago looked likely to retreat have instead dug in, a strategy some Western military experts say is a risky strategy because forces must be kept in reserve for a counterattack.
According to the International Committee of the Red Cross, some 10,000 Ukrainian civilians, including many elderly and disabled people, live in “very poor conditions” in and around Bahmut.
In the meantime, the training of the Ukrainian army to train newly arriving Western weapons in several European countries continues.
You can read our coverage of the war on Friday here.
Cover photo: Ukrainian artillery training on AS90 155mm artillery guns in southern England. Source: Getty Images.
