Ukrainian forces are under growing pressure in the south of the country, where less well-equipped units are vastly outnumbered by Russian brigades that have taken hundreds of square kilometers of territory in recent weeks.
The Russians have advanced across open countryside in several areas of the southern region of Zaporizhzhia. One Ukrainian officer with the country’s security service (SBU) told CNN on Wednesday that the situation in the region was “intense.”
“The enemy is trying to strengthen its negotiating position by attempting to capture more territory,” said the officer, who goes by the call sign “Bankir.”
The Russians were using small groups of infantry “who are trying to break through by any means, by any route, to the positions that are least protected,” he added.
Much of the recent fighting has been in and around the town of Huliaipole. Huliaipole lies some 80 kilometers (50 miles) east of the regional capital Zaporizhzhia, which had a pre-war population of more than 700,000.
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