The Russian army claimed on Tuesday to have taken control of Sieverné, a small village very close to the recently fallen town of Avdiïvka (east), at a time when Moscow’s troops are continuing their offensive in this area and have claimed several successes there. The Russian Defense Ministry also claimed to have destroyed an Abrams tank of the Ukrainian army in this sector, the first claim of this kind made by Moscow since the delivery of these heavy vehicles by Washington to kyiv.
The main information:
– The Russian army captured the village of Sieverné, near Avdiïvka
– two police officers killed, four injured in a Russian strike in the Sumy region
– The Elysée announces a debate in Parliament after the controversy over sending troops
Ukraine withdraws troops from village near Sieverné
Russian soldiers have “liberated” the village of Sieverné, the Russian Defense Ministry assured on Telegram. The Ukrainian army has not yet commented on this announcement. Tuesday morning, she claimed to have repelled Russian attacks around this locality. The day before, Ukraine had, however, admitted to having withdrawn its troops from another village located a few kilometers from Sieverné, Lastochkyné, “in order to organize defense”.
“Nine counterattacks by assault groups of the Ukrainian army were repelled” near the towns of Niou-York, Pervomaiske and Petrivské, in the Donetsk region, the Russian army also said on Tuesday. The day before, Russian Telegram channels had published unverified images purporting to show an Abrams tank in flames, filmed from the air, after being destroyed.
At the end of September, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky welcomed the arrival of the first Abrams tanks in Ukraine, several months in advance, while kyiv led a summer counter-offensive, which ultimately ended in failure. At the time, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitri Peskov reacted by promising that these tanks “will also burn”, echoing a warning from Russian President Vladimir Putin during the delivery of the first German Leopard tanks. .
“Violent fighting” near key eastern city
“Violent fighting” is taking place near the town of Chasiv Yar, a key town near Bakhmut, in eastern Ukraine towards which the Russian army is “actively trying to advance”, the Ukrainian army said on Tuesday . A possible capture of this almost deserted locality could allow Russian forces to step up their attacks against Kramatorsk, the last major city in Donbass controlled by kyiv and targeted more and more often by Russian bombings.
“The enemy is actively trying to advance in the direction of Chassiv Yar. Particularly near Ivanivské and Bogdanivka, where violent fighting is taking place on the outskirts,” the army spokesperson in this area declared on television. , Illia Ievlach. The Russian army is “sending reserves and trying to reinforce its troops with assault units,” he added.
Two police officers killed, four injured in Russian strike
Two police officers were killed and four others injured in a Russian artillery strike Tuesday on a farm in the Sumy region of northeastern Ukraine, Interior Minister Igor Klymenko said.
According to him, the strike hit a group of investigators who came to “document the consequences” of a previous bombing of this farm but were targeted by a “new strike”, the minister said on Telegram. “Emergency personnel found the bodies of the two police officers under the rubble. Four other investigators were injured,” he said.
The Élysée announces a debate in Parliament after the controversy over sending troops
The Elysée announced on Tuesday that a debate and a vote would take place in Parliament on the question of support for Kiev, the day after Emmanuel Macron’s statements castigated by the oppositions, because they did not exclude the hypothesis of a sending of Western troops in Ukraine. In a press release, the presidency indicated that the head of state had asked the government to make a statement before Parliament “relating to the bilateral security agreement concluded with Ukraine” on February 16, followed by a debate and a vote.
This security agreement “establishes our long-term support for Ukraine to defeat Russia’s war of aggression”, recalls the Élysée which does not specify the date of the parliamentary debate, decided under the article 50-1 of the Constitution. This announcement comes the day after criticized statements by Emmanuel Macron. At the end of an international conference in support of Ukraine in Paris, the head of state said on Monday that “there is no consensus today to send in an official, assumed and endorsed manner ground troops. “But in dynamics, nothing must be excluded,” he added, assuming a “strategic ambiguity”.
Lack of ammunition and difficulties in recruiting
On Monday, reacting to the first announcements of the destruction of this Abrams tank, Dmitri Peskov repeated that these tanks “will burn like the others” and praised “the work” of Russian troops who, according to him, “demilitarize Ukraine every day”.
Russia, which seems confident despite its significant human losses, captured Avdiïvka in mid-February. The capture of this industrial city, which has become one of the symbols of Ukrainian resistance, constituted its first real major territorial gain since the conquest of Bakhmut in May 2023. Faced with the Russian army, the Ukrainian forces suffer from a lack of ammunition and struggle to recruit. In recent days, Ukrainian officials, led by Volodymyr Zelensky, have called on Western allies to deliver more weapons, and more quickly.