There is renewed hope for the crawling Ukrainian counteroffensive that seeks to reclaim 20% of Ukraine land occupied by Russia, according to reports.
Paratroopers are fighting through Russian positions in southern Ukraine after months of navigating minefields on the way in the three months since the counteroffensive began, sources told The Wall Street Journal.
The plan is to crack the Russian front line, splitting it open enough to accommodate armored vehicles, tanks, and artillery provided by the U.S. and its allies, according to the Journal.
"It's like inflating a ball," a Ukrainian military officer said.
Kyiv's forces have been making slow progress, with Russian minefields and trenches blocking a southern push intended to reach the Sea of Azov and split Russian forces.
"There have been some successes, in particular in the direction of Novodanylivka-Novoprokopivka," Ukraine Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar said on the Telegram messaging app, referring to two southeastern villages in the Zaporizhzhia region.
Novoprokopivka lies further south of the strategic settlement of Robotyne, which Ukraine said Monday it had liberated.
Ukrainian forces are now advancing in an area between the nearby villages of Novopokropivka and Verbove, looking for a way around the anti-tank ditches and rows of concrete pyramids known as dragon's teeth that form Russia's main fortifications, and that are visible from space.
Maliar also said Kyiv's forces were pressing on with their offensive operations south of the devastated eastern city of Bakhmut, which was captured by Russian troops in May.
Col. Gen. Oleksandr Syrskyi, commander of Ukraine's ground forces, also reported a "positive dynamic" on the Bakhmut front in the east near Bakhmut, where Ukrainian forces have been advancing around the only city Russia captured in its own offensive earlier this year.
Heavy fighting raged on in the villages of Klishchiivka, Kurdyumivka, and Andriivka, Maliar said.
Maliar added that "active" fighting was also underway on the Lyman front in the east, where Russian troops had attempted to advance near the villages of Novoyehorivka and Bilohorivka in the Luhansk region.
Ukraine had hoped its counteroffensive begun three months ago would be overwhelming, and reports of the recent progress come as Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba hit out at critics of Kyiv's tactics, saying Thursday that they were spitting in the faces of Ukrainian soldiers and should "shut up."
"Criticizing the slow pace of (the) counteroffensive equals ... spitting into the face of (the) Ukrainian soldier who sacrifices his life every day, moving forward and liberating one kilometer of Ukrainian soil after another," Kuleba told reporters at a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Toledo, Spain.
The New York Times last week quoted U.S. and other Western officials as saying the offensive had made limited progress because Ukraine had too many troops in the wrong places.
"I would recommend all critics to shut up, come to Ukraine and try to liberate one square centimeter by themselves," Kuleba said, standing alongside Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares.
Amid the recent progress, Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelenskyy is hailing the ability to launch longer-range strikes up to 700 kilometers (400 miles) away.
Zelenskyy said on his Telegram channel the weapon was produced by Ukraine's Ministry of Strategic Industries, but gave no other details.
Launching attacks from inside the front lines could help break Russia's thick second line of defenses in occupied territory, sources told the Journal.
"Western armored vehicles are not a panacea," the Ukrainian officer told the paper.
Information from Reuters and The Associated Press were used to compile this report.
Eric Mack ✉
Eric Mack has been a writer and editor at Newsmax since 2016. He is a 1998 Syracuse University journalism graduate and a New York Press Association award-winning writer.
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