Number of enemy attacks in Zaporizhzhia direction increases, Ukrainian Armed Forces repel occupiers’ attacks - Southern Defense Forces

The invaders continue to assault Ukrainian positions in the Zaporizhzhia direction, but the Defense Forces repel the attacks. Despite the defensive operation, the situation on this section of the front is escalating.
Vladyslav Voloshyn, a spokesman for the Southern Defense Forces, told this to Suspilne, Censor.NET reports.
According to him, the number of assaults by the Russian army is currently increasing in the Zaporizhzhia direction.
"The number of both shelling and assaults remains constant and is increasing slightly, not much, but it is increasing. These are assaults by small groups of infantry, but the occupier is trying to break through further in the northern direction, to capture our positions, but the vast majority of these assaults end in nothing. Sometimes assault groups enter a certain area and even try to gain a foothold in certain positions, but they are driven out," said Voloshyn.
The spokesman noted that despite the increase in Russian assaults, the Defense Forces are repelling the attacks of the Russian invaders.
"At the moment, the defense operation is ongoing and it is too early to announce its consequences. The front line is a rather dynamic phenomenon at this time. And today, the occupier entered somewhere, knocked it out somewhere, and our fighters advanced to more favorable positions somewhere. Therefore, it is still too early to summarize the results, what we have lost and what we have taken under control," he said.
Voloshyn also said that the occupiers are paying special attention to Lobkove and Stepove - if these settlements are under the control of the invaders, it will allow them to shell Zaporizhzhia with artillery and multiple rocket launchers.
"These territories are close enough to Zaporizhzhia that if the occupier seizes a foothold there, they can deploy long-range artillery and MLRSs that can simply reach the outskirts, the suburbs of Zaporizhzhia. Secondly, this is a pretty good foothold to keep under fire control the logistics routes going to the East. Therefore, we can say that he is seeking to take several of these settlements," he said.