Ukrainian troops conduct heavy defensive operations in the east amid severe cold

(Patria) - Ukrainian troops are facing "difficult" defensive operations on parts of the eastern front with the onset of severe winter cold, but forces in the south continue offensive actions, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Wednesday, Reuters reports.

Russian troops launched offensives in eastern Ukraine this autumn, attempting to advance towards the devastated city of Avdiivka and in the northeast between the cities of Lyman and Kupiansk.

"Difficult weather, difficult defense on the Lyman, Bakhmut, Donetsk, and Avdiivka fronts. Offensive actions in the south," Zelenskiy said on Telegram.

Operations could be complicated by the cold weather, with daytime temperatures of minus 5 degrees Celsius dropping as the fighting enters a phase of attrition.

Russia attacked Ukraine in February 2022 and now controls almost a fifth of its territory.
Ukraine's counteroffensive, ongoing since June, has not achieved a major breakthrough. The front line has changed little in Avdiivka since fighting broke out between Kyiv and Russian-backed militants in 2014, but the city has faced waves of attacks since mid-October, followed by temporary lulls. After one such lull the previous day, the head of the "Tavria" military command said on Wednesday that Russian troops had "dramatically increased" the number of attacks and airstrikes.

In its evening report, the Ukrainian General Staff said that 22 Russian attacks were repelled in and around Avdiivka.

In an earlier battlefield report, the General Staff said troops were holding bridgeheads secured on the eastern bank of the Dnipro River, occupied by Russian forces in the early days of their invasion.