Russian forces have ramped up attacks in eastern Ukraine in an attempt to gain ground near two key front line cities, Ukrainian military officials have said. In a report by Associated Press, the head of Ukraine’s ground forces, said that Russian troops had begun a push to regain territory near Bakhmut. The eastern mining city was the site of the war’s bloodiest battle before falling into Russian hands in May.
Col Gen Oleksandr Syrskyi wrote on Telegram on Sunday afternoon: “Toward Bakhmut, the Russians have become more active and are trying to recapture previously lost positions. ... Enemy attacks are being repelled.”
A Russian Defense Ministry spokesman said on Sunday that Russian forces over the previous day repelled five Ukrainian attacks near Klischiivka and Kurdyumivka, two small settlements lying south of Bakhmut.
Russia has accused Kyiv of attacks on border regions. On Sunday, Russia said there had been a series of attacks in the border regions of Bryansk and Belgorod, damaging five train carriages and causing one injury.
According to a report by Agence France-Presse, Moscow said it would open an investigation into a Ukrainian strike which injured a civilian in a village on the Ukrainian border, without giving more specifics.
The governor of Belgorod, Vyacheslav Gladkov, said that drones and missiles had targeted several areas in the region on Saturday. He said that in most cases they had not caused damage, but three houses and “five railway carriages were damaged” in the town of Valuyki some 30 kilometres (19 miles) from the Ukrainian border. Gladkov also said that power lines were hit, temporarily cutting off electricity.
Overnight, Russia’s defence ministry said it had destroyed two Ukrainian drones in the region, preventing what it called attempts at a “terrorist attack”, said AFP.
Kyiv also said that a strike by Moscow caused the death of a 64-year-old man in the southern region of Kherson, and injured his wife.
Ukrainian officials hailed the anniversary of the recapture of Kherson city on Saturday, the regional capital liberated a year ago in the last major frontline shift but which remains a target of Russian shelling.
