Syrsky: AFU offensive actions exceed enemy's for first time over past day

Over the past day, for the first time, the number of offensive actions by the Armed Forces of Ukraine exceeded the number of offensive actions by the enemy, meaning there were more Ukrainian counterattacking and offensive actions on the front than those carried out by the enemy, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Oleksandr Syrsky has said.

"The intensity and number of combat actions from the Russian side decreased, while the number of offensive and counterattacking actions from our side increased. For example, the past day, which ended at 00:00, was marked by the fact that the number of our offensive actions for the first time exceeded the number of offensive actions by the enemy. That is, there were more of our counterattacking and offensive actions on the front than the enemy carried out," Syrsky said in an interview with the Militarnyi channel on Tuesday.

According to him, recently "the Russians have been trying to intensify offensive actions, and the peculiarity of this process now is that they are trying to concentrate efforts on several axes – Pokrovsk, Ocheretyne, Oleksandrivka, Kostiantynivka, Lyman and partly Kupiansk."

In addition, Syrsky said, the enemy is carrying out low-intensity actions along the state border in Kharkiv and Sumy regions.

"But we are also conducting active actions, we are fully using our principle of active defense, carrying out counterattacking actions where necessary and offensive actions where possible," he said.

Syrsky recalled that during the previous offensive in late April, the Armed Forces of Ukraine liberated about 500 square kilometers of Ukrainian land on Oleksandrivka axis, including 12 settlements.

"The issue did not end there; it has now simply moved into a slightly different format. I will report later on exactly what format," Syrsky said.

"But we cannot relax, because the enemy is strong. On Pokrovsk axis, it has concentrated almost 99,800 personnel, and this is the largest grouping of enemy personnel compared with other sections of the front. Of course, this is a huge figure, and we are doing everything to reduce it," he said.