The Ukrainian army recognizes a modest loss of territory in the Donetsk region

Ukraine’s armed forces have acknowledged that Russian forces have made further advances in the Donetsk region – capturing a district less than 10 miles (about 16 kilometers) from the important town of Bakhmut.

In an operational update on Thursday, the Armed Forces General Staff said that while several Russian efforts to advance had been thwarted, “in the directions of Pokrovsky and Klynove the enemy has partial success, capturing the village of Midna Ruda”.

Midna Ruda is about 16 kilometers southeast of Bakhmut, which has come under more intense artillery fire in the past week. Bakhmut is on a key resupply route for Ukrainian frontline units, which could potentially be cut off by further Russian advances.

“In the direction of Donetsk, the enemy is shelling our troops, launching missile strikes, carrying out surveillance and increasing air support,” the general staff said.

The general staff also said other Russian efforts to push west towards the Donetsk region border had been rebuffed. He said the Russians were continuing to shell Ukrainian troops south of the town of Lyman, much of which fell to the Russians on Tuesday. Wednesday’s video showed the Russian flag flying above municipal offices in the city.

According to the Ukrainians, Russian efforts to advance into Donetsk from the north continue to be unsuccessful. Frontlines in the region have changed little in recent weeks. The general staff said that “with the support of artillery, the enemy carried out an offensive in the direction of the village of Bohorodychne, was unsuccessful and fell back to the previous positions”.

Further east, as Ukrainian forces cling to defensive positions around Severodonetsk, the general staff said Russian forces had had “partial success” in making slight advances on the ground.

Meanwhile in the south: The General Staff said Russian units in the Zaporizhzhia area were reinforced with Soviet-era T62 tanks, which appear to have been taken out of storage.

Separately, the Ukrainian military released a video and quotes of soldiers using US M777 howitzers. They praise its accuracy and range, with one saying, “The enemy feels the effectiveness of our artillery every day and every hour. We are doing everything possible and impossible to overpower and eliminate the enemy and give our infantry a chance to counter-offensive. to liberate our territories.”

Oleksiy Arestovych, adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, said the town of Lyman in the Donetsk region had fallen into Russian hands, “according to unverified information”.

“The Russian army – this needs to be verified – captured her,” Arestovitch told Ukrainian television.

In a rare admission, Arestovych also said: “The way they captured it shows that there is still a talented commander who organized the operation correctly, which shows the increased level of operational control and tactical competence of the Russian army.”

CNN’s Kostan Nechyporenko contributed to this post.