INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Ukraine's army on Wednesday denied Russian claims that it had lost a key bridgehead on the Dnipro River frontline that has faced fierce
attacks since Russia lost it.Russia's defense minister said Tuesday that Moscow's forces had retaken the village of Krynky, seized by
Ukrainian troops last year.Russia has stepped up its offensive ahead of Saturday's second anniversary of its invasion, retaking the symbolic
town of Avdiivka last week.Ukrainian troops have held positions at Krynky since November despite heavy Russian artillery fire."We officially
inform that this information is not true," the command of the Ukrainian army on the southern front said of the Russian claims over the
village."The defense forces of southern Ukraine continue to hold their positions (in Krynky)," the command said on social media.It claimed
Russian forces launched an assault on Krynky but suffered "significant losses" and retreated.AFP was not able to verify the claims.Russian
Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu told President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday that Krynky had been "cleared" of Ukrainian forces.The U.S.-based
Institute for the Study of War said Wednesday that "available open-source visual evidence" as well as reports from both sides "suggests that
Ukrainian forces maintain their limited bridgehead in the area."It added that it had "not observed any visual evidence of recent notable
Russian advances" in and around Krynky.Russian military bloggers also did not report that Krynky was fully under Russian control
One influential channel close to Moscow's forces said Tuesday only that Ukrainian control in the area had "decreased."Putin handed medals to
pilots at a base in the Moscow suburbs after what he called a "turning point" on the front following the fall of Avdiivka."Thanks to heroic
actions and impeccable preparation, it was possible to achieve a turning point in the most difficult areas of the front," Putin told the
Ukraine, Russian army chief Valery Gerasimov also handed out medals to troops for taking Avdiivka."For today the main aim that was given is
completed: Avdiivka is liberated," he said, a video posted by the Russian Defense Ministry showed.He claimed that Avdiivka was captured in
"quite a short time but this was preceded by a long period of preparation."Russian forces had been trying for months to take
Avdiivka.Ukrainian forces have complained of key artillery and ammunition shortages as they hold off concentrated Russian attacks on the
eastern and southern sides of the war frontline
Congress has been holding up a huge, crucial aid package.Russia has suffered important losses, according to Ukraine, but it still has a
bigger, better-equipped army.Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky has acknowledged ahead of the anniversary that the country's forces are
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