New Russian offensive underway in Ukraine

The eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut was facing ‘heavy artillery’ fire as the NATO chief backed reports from local officials that a major new Russian offensive had begun, days before the first anniversary of Moscow’s invasion.

Ukrainian defenders, who have already held out for months, were “defending new ground attacks under heavy shelling,” Ukrainian military officials said.

Over the past day, Ukrainian forces ”repelled Russian attacks” in one settlement of the Kharkiv region, around five settlements in Luhansk region and six settlements in Donetsk region, including in the Bakhmut area, the general staff of Ukraine’s armed forces said on Tuesday.

“Positions in Bakhmut have been fortified and only people with a military role were being allowed in, while any civilians who still wanted to leave the city would have to brave the incoming fire,” a deputy battalion commander said on Monday.

“There is not a single square metre in Bakhmut that is safe or that is not in range of enemy fire or drones,” Pavlo Kyrylenko, governor of the Donetsk region, told the Ukrainian national broadcaster late on Monday.

Reuters /Shakirat Sadiq