Ukrainian officials have cautioned that their drive toward the Sea of Azov, a key objective of their counteroffensive, will require a bloody slog through extensive minefields and fortified trenches, likely under heavy artillery fire along roads lined with Russian armor and machine guns. But Kyiv has a more immediate goal. That is to penetrate deep enough into occupied territory to bring more Russian military targets within range of Ukraine’s gradually expanding arsenal, further disrupting Moscow’s supply lines and its ability to parry Ukrainian advances. “The main task we face now, in addition to moving forward, is, of course, to weaken the enemy’s ability to defend itself,” Hanna Malyar, the deputy minister of defense, said on Ukrainian national television. “And in fact, this is what we are doing now.”The Ukrainian military claims to be destroying dozens of Russian weapons depots every week while constantly searching for command posts, air defense systems and concentrations of troops to hit.

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Persons: parry, ” Hanna Malyar Organizations: Kyiv, Ukrainian Locations: Azov, parry Ukrainian