Russian troops are trying to establish fire control over the northern outskirts of the city of Slovyansk in the Donetsk region and the approaches to it.
This was reported by the spokesperson of the Joint Forces Task Group "Dnipro," Oleksiy Belskyi.
Belskyi confirmed that Russian occupiers continue their attempts to gain fire control over the northern outskirts of Slovyansk.
"The occupiers had and still have the task for the spring-summer campaign. Essentially, the summer campaign is still ongoing. They widely announced it as the takeover of the entire territory of the ’DPR’ and the ’liberation’ of large cities and settlements: Slovyansk, Kramatorsk, Pokrovsk, Myrnohrad, and they very much want to capture Slovyansk. Especially since Slovyansk has been a kind of fetish for them since 2014," the spokesperson said.
According to him, Russian troops are trying to bypass Lyman from various directions to then advance towards Slovyansk. They are operating from the northeast—from the area of Siversk and Lyman, and are also attempting to attack from the south and northwest.
"Initially, they want to capture Lyman and then advance to Rayhorodok, Mykolaivka, and directly to the outskirts of Slovyansk, or descend through Svyatohirsk. Another possible direction is through Kramatorsk—from the south," Belskyi explained.
Despite the intensified attacks, Ukraine’s Defence Forces are holding back the advance, but according to the spokesperson, pressure from Russian troops is increasing.
"They are not succeeding, so now the higher leadership of the Russian Federation is pressing them, and they are forced to intensify the pressure," he noted.
Regarding FPV drones, Belskyi emphasized that the Russians are actively using them in the Lyman-Rayhorodok-Slovyansk direction, but no significant increase in usage intensity has been recorded.
"They constantly use regular FPVs, as well as more and more FPV drones on fiber optics," the spokesperson added.