by Illia Novikov at The Washington Times
KYIV, Ukraine — The Russian army overran three settlements in the southern Zaporizhzhia region of Ukraine, Kyiv’s top military commander said Wednesday, as Moscow’s forces expand their efforts to capture more Ukrainian territory.
Dense fog enabled Russian troops to infiltrate Ukrainian positions in Zaporizhzhia, Gen. Oleksandr Syrskyi wrote on the messaging app Telegram, adding that Ukrainian units are locked in “grueling battles” to repel the Russian thrust.
He noted, however, that the fiercest battles are still in the besieged Ukrainian city of Pokrovsk, in the eastern Donetsk region, where close to half of all front-line clashes took place over the previous 24 hours.
The cities of Kupiansk and Lyman in Ukraine’s northeastern Kharkiv region have also recently witnessed an uptick in combat.
Russia launched its full-scale invasion of its neighbor almost four years ago and now occupies roughly one-fifth of Ukrainian land. New U.S. sanctions that take aim at Russia’s oil sector, which is the mainstay of the Russian economy, are due to come into force on Nov. 21. Their purpose is to compel Russian President Vladimir Putin to accept a ceasefire.
Kyiv officials, meanwhile,…
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