Lt-Gen Oleksandr Pavlyuk, Commander of the Ground Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, has told the news telethon that the task of the Defence Forces is to stabilise the front line, regroup into a strike group and conduct counter-strike operations this year, Interfax-Ukraine reports.
Pavlyuk noted that Russia is trying to capture Ukrainian territories as much as possible before the Russian presidential election, so "everything possible and impossible is being thrown into the assault."
"Everything is being done to seize the initiative. Our task is to stabilise the frontline, destroy (the enemy - ed.) as much as possible, which is what we are doing, and regroup as much as possible to bring units that need long-term recovery to training grounds to create a strike group and carry out counter-strike operations this year. We are succeeding. The situation is stabilising," he said.
According to him, there are still several "hot" areas where the enemy is concentrating a large number of forces: Avdiyivka; Chasiv Yar area; Terny area towards Lyman. Heavy fighting is taking place in these areas every day, but Ukrainian soldiers are holding on and inflicting huge losses on the enemy.
"That is why I think we will stabilise the situation in the near future and do everything to prepare the troops to move to more active actions and seize the initiative," Pavlyuk said.
He added that the situation at the front remains difficult but under control.