The Ukrainian military has reported little change on the front lines, but Russian forces have come under heavy shelling on different parts of the front line in the Donetsk region.
The General Staff said that over 45 enemy attacks were repulsed the previous day, focusing on Leman, Bakhmut, Ivodka and Marinka.
It said there were 17 airstrikes and more than 20 attacks by multiple launch rocket systems.
“In the direction of Bakhmut, the enemy is trying to gain full control of the city of Bakhmut and continues to storm it,” the General Staff said.
According to the General Staff, in the west of the city, Ukrainian defense forces repulsed about 20 enemy attacks.
Oleksandr Serskyi, commander of the Ukrainian Land Forces, posted on Telegram that in Bakhmut he met “soldiers and commanders who destroyed the myth of the invincibility of Wagner fighters and Russian paratroopers.”
“The forward movement of our entire army depends on what each soldier is doing right now on his part of the front,” Sarsky said, referring to the possibility of future retaliation.
Some of the heaviest fighting is northwest and west of the city of Donetsk – as the Russians continue their months-long effort to overwhelm Ukraine’s defenses in Ivodka and Marinka. About 20 attacks have been repelled, the General Staff said.
Our army has also had some operational successes in the Donetsk region. Our army has taken some positions. They have taken a more strategic and favorable position,” said Oleksiy Dmitrashkivskiy, a military spokesman in the zone.
He also said that Russian special forces have been introduced in the area.
“The enemy is trying to attack our positions between Avdiivka and Marinka. These efforts do not stop. It should be noted that the enemy has suffered a lot of damage,” said Dmytrashkivskyi.
He also claimed that the Russians “do not have enough equipment and, as they say themselves, are on a diet of ammunition for attacks.”
Social media video shows the two sides engaged in heavy firefights in the Avdiivka area, which is surrounded by the Russians on three sides.
Denis Pushilin, leader of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic, claimed that Russian forces were still advancing towards Avdiivka.
“It is too early to talk about an encirclement, but the situation is being made, if not critical, very difficult for the enemy… After clearing Kamyanka, our units are moving further. Along the two regions There are difficulties, which must also be overcome, and there are similarities with the weather conditions, but these difficulties are mutual — both for the enemy and for us,” Pushelin said.