Ukraine Says It Retook Robotyne Village From Russians

Ukraine’s navy mentioned on Monday that its forces had retaken the southern village of Robotyne, a tactical victory that underlines the immense problem Kyiv’s counteroffensive faces in punching by way of deep and dense Russian defenses.

The seize of Robotyne would imply that Ukrainian forces have penetrated the primary layer of minefields, tank traps, trenches and bunkers put in by the Russians since they invaded, navy analysts say, doubtlessly creating new strategic alternatives.

However the Ukrainian counteroffensive that started in early June has superior only some miles southward to succeed in Robotyne, in intense combating with heavy casualties and gear losses, and an identical distance on one other axis to the east. The final word goal of the thrust to Robotyne is the town of Melitopol, about 45 miles farther south, and extra layers of Russian defenses lie in the way in which.

“Robotyne has been liberated,” mentioned Hanna Malyar, a Ukrainian deputy protection minister. She told the Navy Media Heart, a platform for Ukraine’s Ministry of Protection, that Ukrainian forces had been now advancing southeast towards the villages of Novoprokopivka and Ocheretuvato regardless of “fierce resistance” from Russian forces.

The claims couldn’t be independently confirmed. Russia’s Ministry of Protection on Monday reported combating near Robotyne. Rybar, an influential Russian navy blogger, mentioned that fighting was persevering with within the village, with out providing particulars, and disputed the Ukrainian claims of advances to the southeast.

The recapture of Robotyne, the primary settlement Ukraine has claimed to grab in almost two weeks, might assist enhance the Ukrainian public’s morale after grinding combating that has produced only small gains. And Ukrainian officers say that even small advances are vital, permitting their artillery and missiles to strike deeper into Russian-held territory at Moscow’s troops, provides and transportation networks.

However the Russian have a far superior long-range arsenal that is ready to hit wherever in Ukraine, a indisputable fact that they demonstrated in a single day with a missile strike on an oil refinery greater than 80 miles from the closest Russian-held territory. Officers mentioned the assault, within the village of Hoholeve, within the jap Poltava area, killed three folks and wounded 5 others, all refinery staff. One was lacking.

“On account of the explosion, the oil mill premises caught hearth,” Andriy Yermak, the top of the Ukrainian president’s workplace, mentioned in a submit on the Telegram messaging app, alongside two photos that confirmed a smoldering blaze and harm from its aftermath.

In Kryvyi Rih, a metropolis in central Ukraine about 45 miles from the entrance, the authorities said {that a} missile strike had destroyed two cottages and broken 5 others. And within the Kherson area, farther south, Russian shelling killed a 63-year-old girl, an area navy official said.

Russian forces have been hitting Ukraine’s civilian infrastructure, significantly power methods, since shortly after President Vladimir V. Putin launched the invasion 18 months in the past. Strikes on oil vegetation led to nationwide fuel shortages final spring, and assaults on power plants and heating systems left many Ukrainians with out electrical energy or warmth over the winter.

In Kyiv, President Volodymyr Zelensky’s authorities is raring to point out progress to its Western backers so they are going to maintain supplying weapons and monetary help.

Ukraine additionally desires to affix NATO, however alliance leaders have made clear that won’t occur so long as the battle is underway, and even the longer-term prospects for membership are murky. In July, NATO mentioned it would invite Ukraine to join in some unspecified time in the future, however has not supplied a timeline — basically restating a dedication it made 15 years earlier.

Mr. Zelensky said on Sunday that he anticipated Washington to as an alternative provide one thing like its relationship with Israel, which the USA designates as a “main non-NATO ally,” with a long-term dedication to supplying billions in navy assist and cooperation on protection and intelligence.

With their counteroffensive, Ukrainian commanders hope to drive a wedge by way of Russian-held areas, to chop off resupply to occupied territory within the south — Crimea and elements of the Kherson and Zaporizhzhia areas. One pressure is driving towards Berdiansk, on the Sea of Azov, and the opposite towards Melitopol, close to that sea.

However even with its Western arsenal, the going has been sluggish and expensive, elevating questions on how far the Ukrainians can go.

About 15 miles south of Robotyne lies the Russian-controlled metropolis of Tokmak, a road-and-rail hub whose recapture could be strategically vital.

However satellite images show that to succeed in Tokmak, Ukrainian forces should breach two extra Russian defensive traces made up of trenches, dense minefields, earthen berms and anti-tank boundaries.

On the identical time, Russia’s navy might ship reinforcements to the Robotyne space “to interact Ukrainian forces in open terrain” whereas the second and third traces of protection make “remaining preparations for fight,” navy analysts wrote in a paper launched in June by the Heart for Strategic and Worldwide Research, a Washington-based analysis group.

It mentioned that “a Ukrainian push by way of the second line of defense would enable Ukraine to carry Russia’s provide traces within the nation in danger” and “threaten to reverse the forcible creation of a land bridge to occupied Crimea.”

In current days, some navy analysts even have suggested that Russia’s navy may be shifting forces from the jap entrance line to the south, to be able to reinforce troops round Robotyne, or alongside the subsequent line of defense.

Valeriya Safronova and Daniel Victor contributed reporting.