Kiev, Nov 11, (dpa/GNA) – The Ukrainian army has withdrawn from five villages in the southern region of Zaporizhzhya, after intense fighting with Russian troops.
North-east of the city of Huliaipole, the villages of Yablukove, Rivnopillia, and Solodke were also heavily contested, the Army Group South said on Facebook on Tuesday.
The order to withdraw was given after the “de facto destruction of all shelters and fortifications”, following intensive artillery fire.
Military observers had previously reported a Russian breakthrough on this section of the front, and the Russian army had claimed the conquest of several locations.
Ukraine has been resisting the Russian invasion for more than three and a half years.
In the eastern Ukrainian regions of Kharkiv and Donetsk in particular, the Ukrainian armed forces have been slowly but steadily retreating, under Russian pressure for months.
GNA