Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and a senior defense official issued dire accounts of Russian forces shelling and advancing in Ukraine's eastern province of Donetsk, the main focal point of the 11-month-long war.
Fierce fighting was unabated in eastern Ukraine, where Russian troops are trying to gain ground near the strategic logistics hub of Lyman, Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Malyar said on Wednesday evening.
The town of Bakhmut and 10 communities around it came under Russian artillery and tank fire, the General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces said in a statement on Wednesday night. Bakhmut has suffered relentless bombardment for months by Russian troops.