8, very little independently verifiable information is available on the specifics of which settlements in the area are currently under the control of Ukrainian forces as fighting continues.Kyiv has so far refrained from official announcements on the offensive, with President Volodymyr Zelensky simply saying in an evening address that he had spoken to his Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi, and that “details would follow later.”Requests for comment sent by the Kyiv Independent to Ukraine’s military intelligence agency (HUR) and the General Staff of the Armed Forces have so far been declined or left unanswered amid a country-wide policy of silence. Visibly frustrated in a short public address after an emergency meeting with top security officials on the afternoon of Aug. 7, Russian President Vladimir Putin called the offensive a “large-scale provocation,” further accusing Ukrainian forces of shelling residential areas in the region.
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