The Ukrainian military reported little change on the front lines, but heavy fire from Russian forces on various parts of the front line in the Donetsk region.
The General Staff said that more than 45 enemy attacks were repelled over the past day, focusing on Lyman, Bakhmut, Avdiivka and Mariinka.
He said there were 17 airstrikes and more than 20 strikes by multiple launch rocket systems.
“In the Bakhmut direction, the enemy is trying to take full control of the city of Bakhmut and continues to storm it,” the General Staff said.
To the west of the city, Ukrainian defense forces repelled about 20 enemy attacks, according to the General Staff.
The commander of the Ukrainian ground forces, Oleksandr Syrskyi, reported on Telegram that in Bakhmut he met “soldiers and commanders who destroyed the myth of the invincibility of Wagner fighters and Russian paratroopers.”
Syrskyi raised the possibility of a future counteroffensive, saying that “the advance of our entire army depends on what each soldier is doing right now on his section of the front.”
The most intense fighting is taking place northwest and west of the city of Donetsk, as the Russians have been continuing their months-long efforts to dislodge Ukrainian defenses at Avdiivka and Mariinka. The General Staff said about 20 assaults had been repelled.
“Our military also achieved operational successes in the Donetsk region. Our military took positions. They took a more strategic and favorable position,” said Oleksii Dmytrashkivskyi, the army’s spokesman in this area.
He also noted that Russian special forces had been deployed to the region.
“The enemy is trying to attack our positions between Avdiivka and Marinka. These attempts do not stop. It should be noted that the enemy has suffered quite significant losses,” Dmytrashkivskyi said.
He also said that the Russians “do not have the same amount of equipment and, as they themselves say, they are on a diet of ammunition for assaults.”
A video posted on social media showed the two sides engaging in heavy fire in the Avdiivka area, which is surrounded on three sides by the Russians.
Denis Pushilin, the leader of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic, said Russian forces were continuing to advance towards Avdiivka.
“It is still premature to talk about encirclement, but the situation is being created, if not critical, then at least extremely difficult for the enemy… Having cleared Kamianka, our units continue their advance. There are difficulties associated with the terrain, which must also be overcome, and there are also similarities with the weather conditions. But these difficulties are mutual, both for the enemy and for us,” Pushilin said.
cnn
