Ukraine claims that its army is at a disadvantage in terms of equipment in eastern Kharkiv.
Russian forces occupied large swathes of eastern Kharkiv in the early days of the invasion, but Ukrainian forces repelled them with a lightning offensive about a year ago. Russian forces have been capturing the Piyansk district of the city of Ku for months.
The commander of the Ukrainian ground forces, Oleksandr Syrsky, said on Tuesday (December 19): "The situation is complicated. We must fight with the superiority of the enemy both in terms of the number of ** and the number of personnel. ”
But Syrsky said that the Ukrainian army is adapting to the situation on the front line and holding its ground.
Russia's Defense Ministry said Tuesday that it had repelled eight Ukrainian attacks around Kupiansk with artillery support, and that Russian forces were also advancing further south around the city of **mut, which was occupied by Moscow this summer.
The Institute for the Study of War, a U.S.-based military observer group, said in a recent explanation note that the Ukrainian army had to ration ammunition due to a shortage of ammunition.
"The shortage of artillery ammunition and the delay in Western aid may force the Ukrainian army to conserve supplies and delay future Ukrainian operations," the report said. ”
Separately, Ukraine claims that its air defense system shot down two Russian drones in the west. Moscow, for its part, claimed to have destroyed at least three Ukrainian drones in the Bryansk border area.