The Ukrainian military today reported “heavy fire” from Russian forces near Robotyne, a community in southern Ukraine’s Zaporizhia region that was retaken by Ukrainians in their counteroffensive last summer.

“The enemy made 10 fruitless attempts against the positions of the defense forces (Ukrainian forces) in the area of ​​Robotine. Here, the situation is volatile, the enemy is firing heavilysaid Dmytro Likhovi, the army’s representative in that zone.

According to Likhovy, the Ukrainian army repelled the attacks carried out “with a significant number of armored vehicles” but the Russians are now attacking “small (military) groups, other than armored” as well as with their air force. “These attempted offensive actions we stopped, the enemies were exterminated in the outskirts of Robotine“, General Oleksandr Tarnavsky, the sector commander, said for his part.

The DeepState Telegram channel, which is close to the Ukrainian military, reported on Sunday evening that Russia had managed to break through Ukrainian defenses in Verbove, a few kilometers east of Robotyne.

According to Rybar, another Telegram channel close to the Russian armed forces, Russia is besieging the southern suburbs of Robotine.

AFP was unable to verify this information.

Robotine was liberated by the Ukrainians in August, in what was then described as a major success in Kiev’s counteroffensive against Russian forces. The Russian offensive on this part of the southern front began at the weekend, as the Russian army captured Avdiivka after four months of continuous attacks.

In the sector of Abdiivka, “the Russians are regrouping, they have achieved their tactical objectives” and “they will likely transfer units (from Abdiivka) to other sectors” said Likhovi.

The Ministry of Defense of Russia, for its part, announced that “the Avdiivka coal mine was completely liberated“, which covers an area of ​​3400 hectares in the north of the city and was the last sector held by the Ukrainians before their retreat.

The Russian army has also “improved” its frontline positions in the Donetsk region, the ministry added in its daily update, without mentioning the Robotine zone.