Ukraine’s top general warned on April 28 that the situation for Kyiv’s forces in the east has deteriorated, with Russia attacking “along the entire front line” and achieving “certain tactical successes,” forcing Ukrainian troops to pull back to new defensive positions.
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“The situation at the front has worsened,” Colonel General Oleksandr Syrskiy wrote on Telegram.
“Trying to seize the strategic initiative and break through the front line, the enemy has concentrated the main efforts in several directions, creating a significant advantage in forces and assets,” he said.
Syrskiy said the most difficult conditions are in the Pokrovsk and Kurakhove districts, “where fierce battles continue.”
“The enemy deployed up to four brigades in these directions, is trying to develop an offensive west of Avdiyivka and Maryinka, making its way to Pokrovsk and Kurakhove,” he said.
He said Ukrainian commanders, seeking to “preserve the lives and health of our defenders,” moved back to better-defended positions.
“In general, the enemy achieved certain tactical successes in these directions but could not gain operational advantages,” he added.
Battlefield claims could not immediately be verified due to the heavy fighting in the areas.
In his nightly video address, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy urged the European Union and NATO to speed the process to allow quicker membership into the Western organizations for his country.
He also said Ukraine and the United States -- Kyiv’s most important ally -- were working on a bilateral security agreement.
"We are already working on a specific text. Our goal is to make this agreement the strongest of all," he said. "We are discussing the specific foundations of our security and cooperation…[and] also are working on fixing specific levels of support for this year and the next 10 years."
Washington didn’t immediately comment on Zelenskiy’s remarks.
Earlier, Ukraine reported that Russia had followed up on a massive strike against Ukrainian energy infrastructure with a fresh attack.
Authorities in the southern Mykolayiv region said that Russian suicide drones struck "heat-generating infrastructure" and severely damaged a hotel on the morning of April 28.
Images posted on the state emergency services' Telegram channel showed scattered debris and damage to a building and a children's playground. No casualties were reported.
Ukraine's Air Force said that it had destroyed a Russia-launched drone over Mykolayiv, as well as four others around the country.
The strike came after Russian forces heavily targeted Ukrainian energy infrastructure on the night of April 26-27, with Ukraine’s largest private energy company saying its four thermal power stations were hit.
In his previous video address on April 27, Zelenskiy said that the attacks on crucial infrastructure highlighted the need for the quick delivery of further air defense weapons from Western allies.
Zelenskiy said that sites supplying natural gas to EU countries were being specifically targeted by Russia.
"The main target was the energy sector, various facilities in the industry, both electricity and gas-transit facilities. In particular, gas facilities that are crucial to ensuring safe delivery to the European Union," he said.
Over the past month, Russia’s military has increased its targeting of Ukrainian power infrastructure, attacking thermal and hydropower stations and other energy infrastructure almost daily.
Ukrainian officials have said the country has lost about 80 percent of its thermal generation and about 35 percent of its hydropower capacity, prompting the government to introduce scheduled blackouts in several regions.
Russian gas and oil infrastructure has also come under attack, including an oil refinery in the southwestern Krasnodar region that was shut down on April 27 following a suspected Ukrainian drone strike.
Ukraine, which rarely comments on its targeting of Russian sites, has not claimed responsibility for the attack.