conflicting accounts Ukraine & Russia

Kiev (dpa) — While the armed forces of Russia and Ukraine confirmed active combat activity on almost all sections of the front line on Wednesday, they contradicted each other in their reports of alleged successes.

For instance, Russian agencies cited Russian Chief of General Staff Valery Gerasimov speaking of territorial gains around the city of Pokrovsk in eastern Ukraine, which has been heavily contested for months.

Ukrainian military sources, on the other hand, reported from the vicinity of the city about the encirclement of larger Russian units, whose surrender is expected shortly.

An independent account of the situation was not possible.

“Our armed forces are advancing in practically all directions,” Gerasimov stated. The Ukrainians, however, were “unsuccessfully trying by all means and without regard for losses” to stop the Russian advance.

The General Staff in Kiev reported a total of 117 skirmishes along the entire front line, but with unchanged positions.

Near Kupyansk in the Kharkiv region, a gas pipeline that Russian soldiers had used to infiltrate the city was reported to have been destroyed.

The Russian forces had crawled through the pipe and attempted to bypass the Ukrainian defence lines in this way, thereby attacking them from behind.