The Russian leadership has set the task to the army to reach the borders of Luhansk region by June 26. Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar said this on the air of the telethon, Ukrainian News Agency reports.
“Now there are, without exaggeration, decisive battles in the area of Sievierodonetsk and the plans of the enemy, since the tasks that their leadership set for them is to reach the borders of Luhansk region approximately by June 26, and now the Russian army has thrown virtually all its forces and means in order to storm the settlements around. They seek to break through the defenses of our troops and are trying to encircle the grouping of our troops, which is carrying out the defense of Lysychansk and Sievierodonetsk," she said.
Maliar stressed that the Armed Forces of Ukraine are now fighting in hot battles for every meter of Ukrainian land, courageously holding the defense, destroying the forces and means of the enemy with fire, and the enemy is suffering very serious losses there.
"Ukrainian troops are doing everything possible to hold our territories in order to prevent encirclement. But we must understand that the enemy has an advantage in armament, so the situation is extremely difficult now, and at night and today, there is a maximum intensity of these decisive battles," Maliar said.
Speaking about the situation in Kharkiv region, she noted that the Armed Forces of Ukraine had little to go to the state border, and now the enemy is exerting maximum resistance to prevent this, there are fights for this.
Maliar stressed that the active phase of the war is now underway and virtually the entire territory of Ukraine is under the threat of missile attacks.
As Ukrainian News Agency reported, military expert Oleh Zhdanov believes that the activation of the Russian Federation in the Kharkiv direction is a diversionary maneuver to pull the Armed Forces of Ukraine from the Luhansk direction.
According to the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Russian troops are trying to prevent the regrouping of units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in 5 directions: Lyman, Avdiivka, Kurakhivske, Novopavlivske and Zaporizhzhia.
As of Monday morning, June 20, according to the head of the Luhansk Regional State Administration, Serhii Haidai, the Armed Forces of Ukraine have lost control over the village of Metelkyne near Sievierodonetsk.
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