Update
Army reports recapture
Ukrainian units pose in front of the church
September 17, 2023, 5:45 p.m
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Russian units have been occupying the Ukrainian town of Klishchiyivka for months. Now Kiev is publishing photos that, according to Ukrainian media, show soldiers of the counteroffensive in front of a church there. The location is of strategic importance, for example for Bakhmut pliers.
The head of the presidential office in Kiev, Andriy Yermak, has published a photo of Ukrainian soldiers that is said to have been taken in the town of Klishchyivka in the east of the country, which was long occupied by Russian troops. “Ukraine always takes back what is theirs,” Yermak captioned the photo on his Telegram channel. The picture shows military men holding Ukrainian flags in front of a destroyed church. Ukrainian media located the image based, among other things, on the striking church in Klishchiyivka, a town south of the embattled city of Bakhmut in the Donetsk region. There has been heavy fighting around the village in recent weeks.
A few hours after Yermak’s online post, the Ukrainian army announced that it had recaptured the town. “I can confirm that this was achieved thanks to the efforts of the 80th Air Assault Brigade, the 5th Assault Brigade and the combined brigade of the National Police ‘Lyut’ (‘Anger’),” the newspaper “Ukrainskaya Pravda” quoted the spokesman for Army Group East as saying , Ilya Jevlash.
Klischchiivka was occupied by the Russians in January 2023. According to their own statements, the Kiev military recently recaptured the neighboring town of Andriivka. According to pictures, not much is left of the place as a result of the heavy fighting. In connection with the fighting south of Bakhmut there was recently talk of the destruction of the 72nd Russian Briagade.
The alleged capture of Klishchiyivka by Ukraine could significantly worsen the tactical situation of the Russian occupiers in Bakhmut, who now run the risk of being held in a pincer position from the south and the north. The Russians and Ukrainians fought over Bakhmut for a good six months. On the part of the Russian armed forces, mercenaries from the Wagner private army were mainly used here. At the end of May, Russia declared the city conquered.