MOSCOW, September 6. /TASS/. The situation in three segments of the special military operation combat zone is exceedingly difficult, Ukrainian Ground Forces Commander Colonel General Alexander Syrsky said.

"The current operational situation on the eastern directions remains complex," he wrote on his Telegram channel. The general specified that he was referring specifically to the Artyomovsk, Kupyansk and Krasny Liman areas. Given this, Syrsky has ordered his forces to "ensure a reliable defense" and prevent any loss of current positions.

Over recent days, Ukrainian media outlets have been reporting that the Ukrainian army was forced to redeploy its reserves from the country’s south to the east because the situation in the Kupyansk and Artyomovsk areas was fraught with a collapse of the Ukrainian positions on the frontline in the face of a Russian breakthrough. The New York Times wrote that the US and its allies have concluded that one of the reasons for the failure of Ukraine’s counteroffensive has been the excessive dispersion and overextension of forces on several different segments of the line of engagement and have thus strongly recommended that Ukraine gather its main forces to focus on a single direction in the south. On August 23, Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky acknowledged that Kiev was unable to redeploy its main forces to the southern direction because this could potentially lead to the loss of territories in the east.