Military: Russia unsuccessfully tries to break through in Donetsk, Luhansk oblasts

Photo for illustrative purposes. A pile of grain set on fire by Russian shelling in the village of Siversk, Donetsk Oblast, on May 26, 2022. (Kaoru Ng)

Russian forces are unsuccessfully trying to break through near the Serebryanskyi forest and in the Lyman area in northeastern Ukraine, Nazar Voloshyn, the spokesperson of the Khortytsia group of forces, said on national television on May 10.

The Russian military constantly attempts to storm the village of Nevske and the area of the Serebryanskyi forest in Luhansk Oblast and shells the city of Makiivka in Donetsk Oblast, trying to gain better positions for further attacks, according to Voloshyn.

“(Russian forces) are trying to break through to the city of Siversk (in Donetsk Oblast – edit.) in order to cut off the Siversky ledge and enter the Ukrainian rear in the Serebryanskyi forest,” Voloshyn said.

“The enemy is trying to break through the line of defense of the Ukrainian defenders in the Terny and Nevske settlements in order to go further into the Lyman area, but they are not succeeding,” he added.

Subscribe to newsletter War Notes

Russian troops carry out from 10 to 20 assaults per day, mainly using their infantry, sometimes with the assistance of heavy weaponry, according to Voloshyn.

The spokesperson said that Ukrainian forces are currently trying to push the Russian troops back from elevated areas to prevent further drone attacks.

The settlements of Nevske, Makiivka, Terny, and Siversk are located nearly 40 kilometers (25 miles) northwest of the city of Sievierodonetsk, which Russia captured in June 2022.

Russian forces recently intensified offensive operations around these settlements to advance further in the direction of the Kramatorsk agglomeration.

Ukrainian troops retreated in late April west from the villages of Berdychi, Semenivka, and Novomykhailivka in Donetsk Oblast.

The Khortytsia Ggroup of Ukraine’s Ground Forces said that Russian forces also managed to break in and gain a foothold in a part of the village of Ocheretyne in the region.

Russia aims to completely occupy Donetsk, Luhansk, and, if possible, Zaporizhzhia oblasts in 2024, according to Oleksandr Pavliuk, Ukraine’s Ground Forces commander.