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President Volodymyr Zelensky and a senior defense official issued dire accounts of Russian forces shelling and advancing in Ukraine’s eastern province of Donetsk, the main focal point of the 11-month-long war.
Fierce fighting was unabated in eastern Ukraine, where Russian troops are trying to gain ground near the strategic logistics hub of Lyman, Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Malyar said on Wednesday evening.
Bakhmut town and 10 communities around it came under Russian artillery and tank fire, the General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces said in a statement on Wednesday night. Bakhmut has suffered relentless bombardment for months by Russian troops.
Separately, Avdiivka, another major target, and the nearby contested town of Maryinka and other settlements were also hit, the statement said.
“A definite increase has been noted in the offensive operations of the occupiers on the front in the east of our country. The situation has become tougher,” Zelensky said in a Wednesday evening video address.
The Russian forces were trying to make gains that they could show on the anniversary of their Feb 24, 2022 invasion, Zelenskiy said.
At least three people were killed and 20 wounded on Wednesday night after a Russian strike destroyed a residential building in the eastern city of Kramatorsk, police said, which is about 55 km (34 miles) northwest of Bakhmut town. Local authorities initially said Russia had fired a rocket but the police force later said an Iskander-K tactical missile had struck at 9:45 p.m. (1945 GMT).
“At least eight apartment buildings were damaged. One of them was completely destroyed,” police said in a Facebook post. “People may remain under the rubble.
