Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Sunday evening that violent battles are currently taking place in the vicinity of the towns of Soledar and Bakhmut in the Donbass region.
“The two main hotspots in Donbass are Solidar and Bakhmut,” Zelensky added in his videoed evening address. “Very fierce fighting is going on there.”
and the city Bakhmut is the next target of the Russian forces It has been making slow progress in the Donetsk region since taking control of the major industrial cities of Lyschansk and Severodonetsk in June and July. Solidar is located on the northern outskirts of Bakhmut.
Damaged bridge in Bakhmut
The General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces had said earlier that Russian forces bombed Ukrainian sites on several fronts on Sunday, including targets in cities in the Kharkiv, Donetsk and Kherson regions. Russian forces are trying to advance towards Bakhmut, while Ukrainian fighters repel them in fierce battles in and around Donetsk, Avdiivka.
Meanwhile, the Ukrainian Air Force carried out more than 20 strikes on Russian positions, hitting 17 focal points for troops and weapons and shooting down an enemy drone, according to the General Staff.
Fighting intensified especially at the weekend in the Donetsk and Lugansk regions in the east and in the strategically important Kherson province in the south, three of four regions that Putin announced his annexation of his country last month.
Alexey Kolymzin, director of the Russian-backed Donetsk city administration, said Sunday The bombing of the Ukrainian forces caused damage In the city administration building.
Damage caused by the bombing of the administrative building of Donetsk city
“It was a direct hit, the building was badly damaged. It’s a miracle that no one was killed,” Kolimzin said as he inspected the wreckage, adding that all city services were still operating.
For its part, the Russian Defense Ministry said on Sunday thatIts forces repelled the attempts of the Ukrainian forces To advance in the Donetsk, Kherson and Mykolaiv regions, and inflicted what it described as heavy losses.
Russia also said that it continues its air strikes on military targets and targets in the energy system in Ukraine, using long-range, precision-guided weapons.