Howard Altman

Mon, July 17th 2023, 6:59 PM CDT

Ukrainian military leaders say they are increasingly concerned about a potential Russian push through Kharkiv Oblast tht could imperil it’s own counteroffensive.

“In the Lyman and Kupiansk direction, the enemy has concentrated a very powerful force-more than 100,000 personnel, more than 900 tanks, more than 555 artillery systems, 370 self-propelled guns,” Serhii Cherevatyi, spokesperson for the Eastern Grouping of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, said during the nightly official newscast, the official state Ukrinform news agency reported Monday.

By comparison, Cherevatyi noted, “the largest number of Soviet troops in Afghanistan was 120,000.”

The 100,000 troop number is bewildering large. While we cannot confirm it, even a significant portion of that figure would be highly concerning.

The Russians “are concentrating everything in order to break through our defenses” the spokesman said.”Our soldiers are on the defensive. They don’t allow the enemy to finally seize the initiative. That’s why they hit them constantly.”

“The operational situation in the Eastern direction remains difficult,” Commander of the Ground Forces of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, Colonel-General Oleksandr Syrskyi, said Monday, according to the Military Media Center Telegram channel. In order to stop the offensive actions of our troops in the area of Bakhmut, the enemy is actively transferring additional forces and means to this direction, [including some] airborne troops.”

At the same time, Russian forces “went on the offensive in the Kupiansk direction” with the goal “of defeating our troops in the Kupiansk area and continuing the offensive in the depth of our battle formations,” Syrskyi said.

https://news.yahoo.com/ukraine-situation-report-kyiv-claims-235916209.html

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