[Regnum] Units of the Russian Forces Group "East" continue their offensive and are advancing westward in the eastern part of the Zaporizhzhia Oblast. This was announced on April 21 by Chief of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces Valery Gerasimov.
"The forces of the Vostok group are confidently maintaining the initiative in their offensive zone and are actively advancing westward in the eastern part of the Zaporizhzhia region," the Russian Defense Ministry press service quoted Gerasimov as saying.
The Chief of the General Staff noted that the group's units are actively advancing west of Hulyaipole. Following the liberation of Boykovo and Lugovskoye, fighting continues in Vozdvizhevka, on the approaches to Verkhnyaya Tersa, and Komsomolskoye.
Furthermore, Gerasimov stated that Ukrainian forces launched more than 170 counterattacks in February and March, attempting to halt the advance of Russian troops, but failed to achieve their objectives. He estimated enemy losses at over 3,000 troops and 160 pieces of equipment.
In an attempt to conceal its failure, the Ukrainian Armed Forces command, he added, is announcing the return of allegedly 480 square kilometers of territory.
Earlier, the Russian Ministry of Defense reported that units of the "East" group of forces liberated the villages of Boykovo and Lugovskoye in the Zaporizhia region within a week. Furthermore, the "North" and "West" groups of the Russian Armed Forces captured Malaya Korchakovka in the Sumy region, Verkhnyaya Pisarevka, Novoosinovo, and Kovsharovka in the Kharkiv region, as well as Brusovka in the Donetsk People's Republic.