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Heavy Ukrainian artillery strikes created hell on the Ukrainian defense line. Photo/Illustration
KIEV – Western-supplied heavy weapons strike in heavy fighting on the captured outskirts of Bakhmut Russia last May, inflicting significant casualties on enemy lines. That was the commander’s claim Ukraine to Reuters.
Receiving support after the capture of the main village of Klishchiivka last week, Ukrainian troops praised the 155-millimeter howitzers, which were the main equipment, provided by the United States (US) and its NATO allies.
Unit commander Oleksandr said Ukraine’s armed forces were “heavily dependent” on heavy artillery, including Polish-made Krab guns and US-made M109 self-propelled howitzers.
“Even a single weapon can turn the situation around. “An attack can be stopped with that one weapon,” he said.
“The main thing is to aim where it’s needed. They (the Russians) hate our hardware. That’s what we gathered from our intercepts. We heard that we were constantly hitting them and they kept wondering how much ammunition they had left.” he added as quoted by Reuters, Sunday (24/9/2023).
Oleksandr (30) described Klishchiivka – a village on the heights south of the destroyed city of Bakhmut – as one of the places the Russians were defending.
“We’ll see in the future. “We will develop its success,” he said.
Ukrainian commanders described the capture of Klischiivka and nearby Andriivka as a stepping stone to recapturing Bakhmut, which fell to Russia after months of the war’s heaviest fighting.
The advances are among the most significant in Ukraine’s counteroffensive, which began in June and has struggled to break through Russia’s entrenched defense lines.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and senior officials praised the progress and rejected criticism in the West that the counteroffensive was moving too slowly.
(ian)
