Russian troops have launched a surprise attack on the front line of Lugansk, reports German BILD journalist Julian Röpke. Russian forces are advancing from close to Kremenaya to the port and from Svatovo to Kupiansk with the forces of the 76th Guards Air Assault Division.
Ukraine's Deputy Defense Minister Hana Malyar acknowledged the "very difficult" challenge facing Kiev troops trying to break through Russian lines at several points along the 800-mile front, as Ukrainian units continue to make small gains in the early stages of their long-awaited counterattack.
Malyar - which has been Kiev's main source of information on the counter-offensive since the start of the operation earlier this month - wrote on Telegram on Monday night that Russian forces holding territory in southern and eastern Ukraine would not collapse without a fight. "It is quite difficult for our defenders to advance because the enemy has thrown all its forces to stop the attack," Malyar wrote.
The Deputy Defence Minister has previously stated that Moscow is redeploying its most combat units from the flooded Kherson front to counter Kiev's offensive, which so far has focused on the eastern front of Donetsk and the southern front of Zaporizhzhya.
"The enemy will not give up its positions easily and we must prepare for the fact that it will be a tough duel," Malyar added, noting that this is "exactly what is happening now." "The ongoing operation has many tasks and the army is performing those tasks," Maliar wrote. "They are moving as they should be moving. And the biggest blow has not yet come."
Ukraine claimed to have liberated eight settlements and 43 square miles of territory, advancing more than four miles with gains concentrated around the destroyed city of Bakhmut in Donetsk in the east and Zaporizhzhya in the south. These initial attacks appear to be test operations looking for Russian weak points before a more concentrated push.
Malyar said earlier this week that Russia had lost 4,600 troops and 400 pieces of equipment - including tanks, helicopters and howitzers. For his part, President Vladimir Putin and his commanders have repeatedly claimed to have defeated Ukraine's attacks, inflicting heavy losses on Kiev's units in the process.
Malyar said on Monday night: "It is not necessary to measure the result of the work of the defense forces exclusively by settlements and kilometers traveled." "There are many more criteria for the effectiveness of military operations."
Reports indicate that Russian forces have switched to attacking the eastern Lugansk region, seeking to regain the momentum of attacking Ukrainian units elsewhere along the line. "Russian forces have made gains in the Kupiansk region and continued ground attacks along the Svatovo-Kremlin line," the Institute for the Study of War's briefing said Monday night.
Malyar acknowledged the renewal of Russian attacks. "Despite the fact that our troops are advancing in various directions in the south, the enemy is concentrating much of its efforts in the east and continues to advance there," he wrote on Telegram.
