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/KYIV — Ukraine insisted the West must speed up its supply of weapons, with the city of Dnipro reeling from a Russian missile strike that killed at least 40 people in an apartment block and Ukrainian troops under increased pressure on the eastern front.
Ukraine’s army General Staff said on Monday that Russian artillery pounded about 25 towns and villages around Bakhmut and Avdiika, the two focal points of Russian attempts to advance in the strategic eastern industrial Donbas region.
It said Russia also kept up shelling of more than 30 settlements in the northeast Kharkiv and Sumy areas near the Russian border. In the south, Russian mortar and artillery fire hit several towns, including the regional capital, Kherson, which Russian forces abandoned in November.
Reuters was not able to verify battlefield reports.
“Very heavy fighting is continuing in the two key sectors of… Bakhmut and Avdiivka,” Ukrainian military analyst Oleh Zhdanov said on YouTube. “The enemy is attacking constantly and around the clock. And we are trying to maintain our positions. Russian troops are active at night – we are in great need of night vision equipment.”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in his Monday night video address that the attack on Dnipro and Russia’s attempts to gain the initiative in the war underscored the need for the West “to speed up decision-making” in supplying weapons.
