Russia, Ukraine give conflicting reports of fighting in Zaporizhzhia

Over the weekend, conflicting reports emerged from Russia and Ukraine regarding the situation along the frontline in the Zaporizhzhia region. Moscow claimed to have halted Kyiv’s counteroffensive, while the Ukrainian army insisted that it is continuing. Since the commencement of its counteroffensive in June, Ukraine has retaken a few small villages in the southeast Zaporizhzhia region; however, the vast frontline in the east and south of the country has not changed much over the past year. In statements released on Monday, Yevgeny Balitsky, the top Moscow-installed official in the Zaporizhzhia region, stated, “The enemy has been stopped and their counter-offensive, which has been so hyped, has been completely halted.” Small-scale fighting was reportedly taking place close to the villages of Robotyne and Shcherbaky, which are roughly 22 kilometres northwest, according to Balitsky. It has been challenging to determine who has been making significant progress and how intense the fighting has been because both sides are in control of the dissemination of battlefield intelligence and are asserting victories in small areas of territory. The General Staff of Ukraine reported on Sunday night that several attempts at attack by Russian forces were made close to Robotyne and Verbove, a village located a few kilometres east of the country. In its daily briefing on Sunday, the Russian ministry of defence stated that Russian forces had repulsed Ukrainian attacks in the vicinity of Verbove and Robotyne. However, experts at the Institute for the Study of War, a think tank located in Washington, claimed that Ukraine had made “limited advances west of Verbove.” Additionally, according to General Stuff of Ukraine, Ukrainian forces carried out offensive operations in the western Zaporizhzhia region, “exhausting the enemy all along the frontline” in the direction of Melitopol. Over the weekend, Russia said that its air defence forces had repulsed air strikes from Ukraine. Weekend claims by President Volodymyr Zelenskiy that the war with Russia was at a “stalemate” were refuted by his Commander-in-Chief, General Valery Zaluzhnyi, who stated that the fighting was becoming more attritional and static. (With agency inputs)