In the east of Ukraine
Moscow massively attacks Donetsk: “The entire front line is under relentless fire”
Ukraine, Bohorodychne: This satellite image provided by Maxar Technologies shows active artillery fire and rising smoke in Bohorodychne, northwest of the city of Sloviansk.
© DPA
After capturing the Luhansk region, the Russian army is now increasingly targeting the Donetsk region from there, according to Ukrainian sources. The occupiers launch attacks from Lysychansk in a westerly direction.
Russian troops have continued their attacks in eastern Ukraine. Five people were killed on Friday in the eastern Ukrainian region of Donetsk, as Donetsk Governor Pavlo Kyrylenko said on Saturday. “The entire front line is under relentless fire,” he wrote on Friday evening on the Telegram messenger service.
The city of Slowjansk in particular was under massive attack, explained Kyrylenko. He also accused Russia of setting fire to agricultural land in order to “destroy the harvest by any means necessary”.
Sloviansk is apparently the next target for Russian troops as they advance in eastern Ukraine. Sloviansk and Kramatorsk are the two largest cities in the Donetsk region still under Ukrainian control.
Russia is apparently preparing another offensive
Russian troops attacked Donetsk from bases in the neighboring Luhansk region, Luhansk region governor Serhiy Hajday said on Saturday. Luhansk is already under Russian control. Russia is currently increasing its troops in the region to prepare for further attacks, Hajdaj warned. The occupiers launched attacks from Lysychansk towards the west, Hajday said. “We are making every effort to stop the Russian armed groups across the board.” However, according to Hajdaj, they are attacking from multiple sides and trying to penetrate deep into the neighboring area.
They create a “real hell” by rocket attacks and artillery fire. However, Ukrainian forces put up a brave resistance, Hajdaj said.
Explosions were also reported from the south of the country during the night. The mayor of Mikolayiv asked residents to stay in the air-raid shelters.
A military representative from the Dnepropetrovsk region, southeast of Kyiv, wrote on Telegram on Saturday that Russia had “deliberately shelled residential areas” and continued to “terrorize” towns and villages.
evacuations in Ukraine
According to local media, Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine Iryna Vereshchuk called for the evacuation of the occupied territories. “There will be massive fighting,” she said. The Ukrainian government had announced that it wanted to take back occupied areas after the delivery of heavy weapons by the West.