- By Thomas Mackintosh
- BBC News
Ukraine’s army chief warned that the situation on the battlefield in the country’s east had “significantly deteriorated” in recent days.
Heavy fighting continues in several villages in the eastern Donbass region.
Gen. Oleksandr Syrskyi said Russia was benefiting from the warm weather – making terrain more accessible to its tanks – and making tactical gains.
This comes as Germany announced it would provide Ukraine with an additional Patriot missile defense system to repel air attacks.
In his update posted on social media on Saturday, General Syrskyi explained that the situation on the Eastern Front had deteriorated as Russia intensified its armored attacks.
Fighting rages for control of Bohdanivka, a village west of the devastated town of Bakhmut, he said.
The settlement lies a few kilometers northeast of the town of Chasiv Yar, a kyiv-controlled stronghold that Russia is trying to reach after seizing the southern town of Avdiivka in February.
Ukrainian officials say the slowdown in Western military assistance — particularly from the United States — has left it more exposed to air attacks and heavily disarmed on the battlefield.
Despite repeated assurances of his dedication to Ukraine’s defense, U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson has failed to advance a new military aid bill. The Democratic-controlled Senate passed new funding in February that included $60 billion in aid to Kyiv, but conservative House Republicans opposed the bill because it did not include funds for border security.
General Syrskyi said that without new aid and sophisticated weapons, kyiv would not be able to “take the strategic initiative” from the numerically superior Russian forces.
Furthermore, on Saturday, Germany committed to providing Ukraine with an additional air defense system. Ukraine has made increasingly desperate calls for air defense missiles in recent weeks.
On Friday, a major power plant near kyiv was completely destroyed by Russian strikes. The Trypillya power plant was the largest electricity supplier to three regions, including kyiv, officials said.
In response, Berlin agreed to provide kyiv with an additional Patriot missile system. It is capable of intercepting the most advanced Russian munitions, including Kinzal hypersonic missiles.
Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said Russian strikes on Ukrainian cities and energy infrastructure were causing untold suffering.
President Volodymyr Zelensky thanked Germany for the decision, calling it “a real show of support for Ukraine.”
Since President Vladimir Putin won elections last month, Moscow has stepped up its air attacks against Ukraine.
Russia has in recent days launched three massive airstrikes on its energy system, pounding power plants and substations.
Separately, the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) said it had foiled an assassination attempt against the governor of the Kherson region, Oleksandr Prokudin. Authorities said two men tried to ram Mr. Prokudin’s car with a Russian-made drone.
“This was not the first attempt, and probably not the last,” Mr. Prokudin said in a message published on Telegram.
SBU officials also said they had arrested 11 Russian agent networks since the start of 2024. SBU head Vasyl Malyuk said in another Telegram post that this was in addition to 47 from last year.