Gerasimov: Russian forces four kilometers from Slavyansk

Russian Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov announced the advance of Russian forces toward Slavyansk, Kramatorsk, and Druzhkivka in eastern Ukraine.

According to Gerasimov, units of the Southern grouping have broken through the first line of the Ukrainian Armed Forces’ Slavyansk-Kramatorsk fortified zone on certain sections. Russian forces, he said, have come within four kilometers of the eastern outskirts of Slavyansk. Street fighting is underway in the areas of Mykolayivka and Nikanorівka, Gerasimov stated. Ukrainian military experts had previously reported that Russian forces were already within two kilometers of Mykolayivka — a key town to the east of Slavyansk.

In the direction of Kramatorsk, Gerasimov stated that Russian advance units are fighting on the territory of an airfield three kilometers from the city’s outskirts. According to Ukrainian data, that distance is seven kilometers.

On the Druzhkivka axis, according to the Russian Chief of the General Staff, Russian forces have come within one and a half kilometers of Druzhkivka and control approximately half of Alekseyevo-Druzhkivka. The Ukrainian side had previously also reported that individual Russian groups had entered Druzhkivka.

Gerasimov claims that the Russian offensive is continuing “at an undiminished pace on all fronts.” He also denied the success of the Ukrainian Armed Forces’ counteroffensive in the Zaporizhzhia and Dnipropetrovsk regions, which President Volodymyr Zelensky had previously announced.

Two new military groupings will be formed in the Donetsk region. They will be commanded by Azov Corps commander of the National Guard Denis Prokopenko and Third Army Corps commander of the Ukrainian Armed Forces Andriy Biletsky.