- Ukrainian forces are advancing “slowly but surely” across frontlines in the east and southeast of the country.
- Forces recaptured clusters of villages in the southeast, as well as made ground along the flanks of the highly contested city of Bakhmut.
- The number of people killed by a Russian missile attack on a pizza restaurant in Kramatorsk has risen from 11 to 12.
- Russia has opened criminal cases against 160 foreigners accused of acting as mercenaries on behalf of Ukraine.
Ukrainian forces are advancing “slowly but surely” across frontlines in the east and southeast of the country, a senior military official has said. General Valery Zaluzhniy claimed forces recaptured clusters of villages in the southeast, as well as made ground along the flanks of the highly contested city of Bakhmut. “Ukraine’s defence forces are proceeding with their offensive action and we have made advances,” the Ukrainian commander-in-chief said on Telegram. “The enemy is offering strong resistance while sustaining considerable losses,” he added.
This comes after Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the Ukrainian president, hailed advances “on all fronts” earlier in the week, as the country’s counteroffensive seemingly ramped up.
Photos shared by Ukraine’s foreign affairs ministry show the scale of damage in Bakhmut after months of fighting in the area. The city has been the site of one of the bloodiest and most prolonged battles of the war so far. The ministry said that fighting had turned what was “once a beautiful town with a developed infrastructure and lovely architecture” into “ruins”.
The number of people killed by a Russian missile attack on a pizza restaurant in Kramatorsk has risen from 11 to 12, Ukraine’s emergency services have said. A 17-year-old girl, 14-year-old twin sisters, and a boy are understood to be among the dead. At least 60 people were injured. In the meantime, Ukraine’s counterintelligence service has arrested a man it accuses of helping Russia direct a missile strike that killed 10 in the city of Kramatorsk. The Security Service of Ukraine (SSU) said the man detained was local to the area. “According to the investigation, the enemy agent is a resident of Kramatorsk, an employee of the local gas transportation company,” it said on its website. The man recorded videos of buildings and cars nearby before passing on the footage to Russian military intelligence, the SSU says.
Russia has opened criminal cases against 160 foreigners accused of acting as mercenaries on behalf of Ukraine. The foreigners, who come from 33 countries, are being prosecuted by Russia’s investigative committee, state news agency Tass said on Telegram. “Evidence was collected of the participation of mercenaries from Georgia, the United States, Latvia, Sweden, and other states,” it said.
(With inputs from agencies)
