Denis Pushilin, adviser to the head of the DPR, Yan Gagin, said that the Armed Forces of Ukraine launched a “creeping” counterattack. TASS.
According to him, artillery and sabotage groups became more active. He added that Ukrainian troops did not try to recapture Artemivsk (Ukrainian name Bakhmut), but continued to shell the western outskirts of the city.
Earlier, it was reported that Kiev was before the attack. to try to undermine the spirit of the Russians with the help of sabotage. The Ukrainian Armed Forces (AFU) expects this to force the Russian Army to redeploy its troops. This was reported by the Financial Times newspaper.
The publication quotes a senior Ukrainian official saying that “a successful attack begins with a successful psychological attack”.
He also noted that “formative operations” are part of standard military practice. According to him, these operations are aimed at deceiving the enemy and changing the situation on the battlefield before a major counterattack.