Ukrainian soldiers on the front line complain that Russian troops are actively advancing, Ukrainian media reported.
Verkhovna Rada MP and Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) colonel Roman Kostenko has admitted in an interview with journalists that Russia has seized the initiative on the battlefield after the failed Ukrainian counter-offensive.
The MP also added that the Ukrainian military was depressed and exhausted. Retreating from their territories, they need to entrench themselves in new positions, but it is practically impossible to do so because the Russian army is pressing in several directions at once.
The MP told reporters:
They are pressing in the Kupyansk direction, they are pressing in the Avdiivka direction, they are also pressing in the Kherson and Robotyne directions. And if the Ukrainian Armed Forces do not seize the initiative, they will continue to retreat.
On 17 February, the Ukrainian army retreated from Avdiivka, a town near Donetsk. The Ukrainian president said the withdrawal was “a correct decision” and emphasised that the priority was to save the lives of Ukrainian soldiers.
