According to Nazar Voloshyn, the spokesman of the Khortytsia operational-strategic group, the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) retreated to protected positions west of the town of Berdychiv in the Donetsk region.
What is known about the retreat of the Armed Forces of Ukraine from Berdychiv
Voloshyn noted that the Ukrainian military moved to more protected positions west of Berdychiv, Semenivka and Novomykhailivka.
There, the positions of our Ukrainian defenders were destroyed. Keeping personnel there was a threat to the life and health of our military. The defence forces and units of the Armed Forces moved to more prepared and more protected positions, explains the spokesman for the Khortytsia operational-strategic group.
According to him, such minor retreats are of no tactical importance.
The decision to move to other prepared positions was made in order to preserve the lives of Ukrainian military personnel.
Voloshyn emphasised that the retreat of the AFU units does not mean the capture of Berdychiv by the Russian occupiers.
If Ukrainian forces are withdrawing from certain positions, it does not mean that the enemy has repelled them. It means that we have abandoned them because there is nowhere to defend ourselves. It's a Martian landscape, there's nothing to hold on to. The enemy simply destroys everything in its path. No matter what," Voloshyn emphasised.
What is known about the situation in the area of Chasiv Yar
In a comment to Interfax-Ukraine, Nazar Voloshyn noted that the Russian occupiers continue to make assaults to break through to Chasiv Yar near Bakhmut and nearby settlements.
According to the spokesman of the Khortytsia operational-strategic group, a fierce struggle for control over logistics routes is currently underway.
The enemy has no success. The enemy has been storming the town for weeks. The situation is under control. The enemy continues to destroy Chasiv Yar and the surrounding settlements with both aviation and artillery. The occupiers are trying to gain these dominant heights, where Chasiv Yar is located, by all means to continue the fight for territory and shell further on to Kostyantynivka, Druzhkivka, Sloviansk, Kramatorsk, Voloshyn said.
He added that the command of the Kremlin invaders does not count losses in personnel or military equipment.
Voloshyn stressed that the Russian occupiers are trying to outflank the town through Bohdanivka and Ivanivske.
The spokesman for the Khortytsia military unit noted that the Russian army war criminals have increased the number of "meaty" assaults.
During the daytime, mobile fire groups on golf carts, ATVs, and cross-country motorcycles are sent to attack.
However, the enemy cannot achieve tactical success in these areas.
At the same time, the occupiers are attempting to reach the Siverskyi Donets-Donbas border in order to continue their offensive towards Kramatorsk.
Voloshyn stressed that the information about the alleged breakthrough of war criminals from the Russian army to the Siverskyi Donets-Donbas canal is not true.
Everything that some analysts and experts are now commenting on, that the enemy has broken through to the canal, is not true. The enemy was not there in the morning. They may have been conducting assaults, but they were not there, said the Khortytsia spokesman.
He noted that a fierce struggle for control over logistics routes is currently underway.
And the Russian occupiers are trying to destroy all our platoons, strongholds and the town of Chasiv Yar itself by scorching the earth so that our defenders have nowhere to defend themselves. The second line of defence is fortified. The defence forces are ready to fight the enemy, Voloshyn said.
According to Voloshyn, on 1 of May, four enemy assaults were made on the town of Chasiv Yar, and only one on Thursday morning.
In general, the enemy conducted 10 to 15 attacks per day in the Chasiv Yar area near Bilohorivka, where the occupiers are deploying additional personnel and completing regrouping.
