“The statement about the recapture of Andriivka is premature,” the brigade on the ground in the area of Donetsk region wrote on social media.
The announcement came shortly after Ukraine’s Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maljar shared other information:
“We are moving forward in the Bakhmut area. On the northern flank, the enemy is trying to regain lost ground. On the southern flank, we are making progress. And we have positive news there – Andriivka is ours. We are consolidating our positions,” she wrote on social media.
Blames the statement on a “communication breakdown”
Even Maljar later retracted the information in a post where she “clarified” the situation, and blamed the statement on a “communication breakdown”.
She added that “there is some success in Andriivka”.
It was at the beginning of June that Ukraine, with the help of weapons from the West, began its counteroffensive against Russian forces that entered the southern and eastern parts of the country.
Bachmut, a town once home to around 70,000 people, was captured by Russian forces in May after one of the longest and bloodiest battles of the Russian offensive.
The village of Andriivka is located approximately 14 kilometers south of Bachmut, and was home to fewer than 100 people before the war of aggression began.