Kyiv [Ukraine], April 11: Russian forces pressed attacks on frontline cities in eastern Ukraine on Monday. At the same time, Ukrainian officials played down a report that Kyiv is amending some plans for a counteroffensive due to a leak of classified US documents. The Russians were pounding Ukrainian positions around besieged Bakhmut in the eastern Donetsk region and other cities and towns with air strikes and artillery barrages, Kyiv said. "The enemy switched to so-called scorched earth tactics from Syria. It is destroying buildings and positions with air strikes and artillery fire," Colonel General OleksandrSyrskyi, commander of Ukraine's ground forces, said of Bakhmut.
The small city on the edge of a chunk of Russian-controlled territory in Donetsk has for months been the biggest battleground of the war, now in its second year. The head of the Moscow-controlled part of Donetsk, Denis Pushilin, said Russian forces now held 75% of the city. Moscow's military was also targeting the city of Avdiivka. "The Russians have turned Avdiivka into a total ruin," said PavloKyrylenko, Donetsk's regional governor, describing an air strike on Monday that destroyed a multi-storey building. "Around 1,800 people remain in Avdiivka, all of whom risk their lives daily."
As the battles ground on, US media outlet CNN reported that Ukraine had been forced to amend some military plans ahead of its long-anticipated counteroffensive because of the leak of US documents. US officials are trying to trace the source of the leak of dozens of secret documents. They detail various topics, including information on the Ukraine conflict, in which the United States has supplied Kyiv with huge weapons and led to international condemnation of Moscow's invasion. Asked about the report, Ukrainian presidential aide MykhailoPodolyak said Kyiv's strategic plans remained unchanged but that specific tactics were always subject to change. The National Security and Defense Council secretary, Oleksiy Danilov, told an agency: "The opinion of people who have nothing to do with this do not interest us... The circle of people who possess information is extremely restricted."
Some national security experts and US officials say the leaker could be American, but they do not rule out pro-Russian actors. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov declined to comment on the leak but added: "There is a tendency to always blame everything on Russia. It is, in general, a disease." After months of attritional warfare in the east, a Ukrainian counteroffensive has long been expected. A Russian winter offensive failed to make much progress, and its troops have been bogged down in a series of battles where any advances are incremental and come at a huge cost. The Ukrainian defenders have also taken heavy casualties. Syrskyi said Moscow was sending in special forces and airborne units to help their attack on Bakhmut as members of Russia's private mercenary Wagner group were exhausted.
Source: Qatar Tribune