According to Kyiv’s Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maljar, eastern Ukraine remains the “epicenter” of the fighting. Russian troops are reportedly making terrain gains on the front line near Kupyansk. At the same time, they appear to be barricading themselves with concrete in the southern region of Zaporizhzhya.
According to the Deputy Minister of Defense, the Kyiv army has achieved tactical successes in the Zaporizhzhya region as the German news website n-tv.de reports. Ukraine is focusing its offensive primarily on the cities of Melitopol and Berdyansk. However, while it has successfully consolidated its positions, it is facing fierce resistance from enemy forces. Maljar reported on Telegram that the enemy is in the process of seriously reinforcing its defensive lines and is building concrete fortifications on strategically important high ground. This, he said, is “significantly” complicating the Ukrainian offensive in the region. In addition, Maljar reports Russian shelling by Lancet drones in the Zaporizhzhya, Kherson, and Mykolaiv areas. An attempt by the enemy to regain lost ground southeast of Novodanylivka and east of Robotyno in Zaporizhzhya was “unsuccessful.”
The military governor of Kherson Oblast, Olexander Prokudin, spoke of a difficult night for Kherson, which, like Zaporizhzhya, is located in the south of the country. He said that the Russian army attacked the houses in the center of the city, injuring twelve civilians. The head of the Presidential Office, Andriy Yermak, also reported deaths and injuries in Kherson. He published a photo of a house in flames and said that a woman had been killed in the nine-story apartment building, while two firefighters had suffered heatstroke.
Image: Kremlin.ru, Vladimir Putin at the site Donguzsky (2015-09-19) 10.jpg, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons (image size changed)