Situation in east Ukraine has ‘deteriorated significantly,’ Kyiv commander says

The situation on Ukraine’s eastern front has “deteriorated significantly in recent days” amid a stepped-up offensive by Russia, the head of the Ukrainian army said Saturday.

Kyiv has seen a “significant intensification of the enemy’s offensive” since Russian President Vladimir Putin won re-election in March, Ukrainian Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi said, according to news agency AFP.

Syrskyi, who became military commander in February after the previous army head was fired by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, renewed calls for faster military aid from Western allies to counter Moscow's superior weapons. Russia is deploying new armored units which sometimes achieve tactical gains, he said.

The situation around the city of Chasiv Yar, on the eastern front line, is difficult and tense with the area under constant fire, Ukraine has said. The city is 20 kilometers to the west of Bakhmut, which Moscow took last May in an assault led by Wagner Group mercenaries.

As Western military aid to Ukraine slows, Russia has made territorial gains in the area.

“The enemy is actively attacking our positions in the Lyman and Bakhmut sectors with assault groups supported by armored vehicles," Syrskyi said. "In the Pokrovsk sector, they are trying to break through our defense using dozens of tanks and armored personnel carriers," he added.