MOSCOW, March 16 (Reuters) – Russia took control of 12 settlements in Ukraine in the first two weeks of March as part of an advance on Ukraine’s eastern and southern fronts, Russia’s state news agency quoted top general Valery Gerasimov as saying on Monday.
In Kiev, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said the country’s armed forces had disrupted Russia’s offensive plans and that Moscow had failed to reinforce its troops.
Russian Chief of Staff Gerasimov spoke during a visit to southern forces and noted progress around Ukraine’s main cities in a conflict that has lasted more than four years and is known in Russia as a special military operation.
“The attack is proceeding in all directions,” the Russian Defense Ministry quoted him as saying on the Telegram channel.
“Over two weeks in March, coalition forces and military formations liberated 12 settlements.”
Gerasimov said Russian forces were “actively advancing towards Sloviansk,” a heavily fortified town in eastern Ukraine’s Donetsk region that has long been considered one of Moscow’s main targets.
He said Kostianievka is another town that has long been under Russian pressure, with 60% of the land now in Russian hands, and Ukrainian forces “taking all possible measures to stop our advance.”
“Street fighting is taking place in the northwest region of Kostiani Nivka,” Gerasimov said, adding that commando units were advancing into the city.
The Russian army is also advancing further south in the Zaporozhye region, “actively advancing westward” and continuing to establish buffer zones in the Kharkiv and Sumy regions on the border.
Zelensky said in a nightly video address after meeting with Ukraine’s top commander Alexander Silsky that Russia’s attacks had become less intense.
“The Ukrainian Defense Forces disrupted the Russian strategic offensive planned by the enemy in March,” he said.
“Despite the attacks, the attacks continued, but their intensity and scale of confrontation were not what Russia had planned or what its command had promised to Russia’s political leadership.”
Zelensky and Silsky have had success in the Zaporozhye region in recent weeks, recapturing about 400 square feet of land. kilometer. (154 square miles) of territory and recaptured eight settlements.
Russia’s top military officials have repeatedly said their troops continue to make progress on the front lines.
Ukraine’s DeepState military blog, which relies on public sources to determine both sides’ positions, said Russian forces were trying to achieve a breakthrough at Kostian Tinivka and had made some gains around Sloviansk.
Negotiations aimed at resolving the conflict have progressed slowly, with territorial issues remaining a key sticking point. Russia has urged Ukraine to give up all of the Donbass (comprised of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions), including areas that its forces have not yet captured, but Zelensky has rejected the demand.
(Reporting by Reuters; Writing by Maxim Rodionov and Ron Popelsky; Editing by David Gregorio)