"We are gradually pushing occupiers out": Ukraine's military chief gives update on situation in and around Kupiansk

Oleksandr Syrskyi, Commander-in-Chief of Ukraine's Armed Forces, has said Ukrainian troops are carrying out counter-sabotage operations and gradually pushing Russian forces out of the areas of Kupiansk where they still maintain a presence.

Source: Syrskyi on Facebook

Quote: "The enemy continues to launch attacks with small infantry groups and is attempting to infiltrate the urban area. The defence forces are carrying out counter-sabotage operations, destroying enemy groups and gradually pushing the occupiers out of the areas where they still maintain a presence.

I would separately highlight the well-coordinated interaction of all defence force elements involved in carrying out tasks in the area. It is precisely this coordinated action between units that allows us to detect the enemy in time and inflict losses on it."

Details: Syrskyi said he has engaged with troop groupings and units carrying out combat tasks on the Kupiansk front in Kharkiv Oblast.

He discussed the operational situation and further steps to improve it inside the city and around it with the command of the 10th Army Corps and unit commanders.

Syrskyi also reported that he has made decisions on reinforcing Ukrainian troops. The priority is additional fire capabilities, including attack drone systems.

He added that the frontline situation remains difficult, but Ukrainian troops are holding their positions and continuing to destroy the Russians.

Background:

• On 16 July, former defence minister Mykhailo Fedorov said he had called for Syrskyi to be replaced, but President Volodymyr Zelenskyy did not agree. According to Fedorov, all the Defence Ministry's proposals to improve the armed forces' operations on the front line encountered resistance from the commander-in-chief.
• Syrskyi responded to criticism from Fedorov and said he hopes Fedorov will remain on Ukraine's team.
• Commenting on the upcoming changes at the Defence Ministry, Zelenskyy acknowledged that Fedorov and Syrskyi have been unable to work together effectively and that problems on the battlefield, in military brigades and with mobilisation remain unresolved.
• Zelenskyy announced later that he will propose that Parliament appoint Yevhen Khmara as defence minister. Khmara, the acting head of the Security Service of Ukraine (SSU), has been tasked by the president with acting as Ukraine's defence minister in the interim.
• A protest in support of Fedorov is taking place near the President's Office in Kyiv and a number of Ukrainian cities. Participants are asking the authorities to reinstate Fedorov in the new government.
• On 16 July, Ukrainska Pravda sources among military and law enforcement personnel said that following Fedorov's dismissal, Andrii Yermak, former head of the Office of the President, visited Syrskyi's command post in a frontline oblast.

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