War Archive 2022 02/24 Monitoring Russian and Ukraine War.

[Lulldapull]

This is very embarrassing gents, the realization that here is Iran exporting entire fukking factories of advanced AI drones to so many customers and here we are stuck talking about eff-sola and Jeff thunder?

Waqaee sharmindagi key baat hae.

Munira whiskey needs to go bhai…..

Hamaray paas kuchh ne hae to export to Russia or Ukraine except 155mm arty rounds and 122mm grad rockets.

 

[Saif]

https://thefinancialexpress.com.bd/world/ukraine-captures-two-north-korean-soldiers-in-kursk-zelenskiy-says

Ukraine captures two North Korean soldiers in Kursk, Zelenskiy says
REUTERS
Published :
Jan 11, 2025 23:17
Updated :
Jan 11, 2025 23:17

Ukraine has captured two North Korean soldiers in Russia's Kursk region, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Saturday, the first time Ukraine has announced the capture of North Korean soldiers alive since their entry into the war last autumn.

North Korean regular troops entered the war on Russia's side in October, according to Kyiv and its western allies, who initially estimated their numbers at 10,000 or more.

In a post on X, Zelenskiy said that the soldiers had been brought to Kyiv and were communicating with the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), the country's domestic intelligence agency.

"As with all prisoners of war, these two North Korean soldiers are receiving the necessary medical assistance," Zelenskiy said. He said that journalists would be given access to speak to them.

Kyiv says that North Korean troops are fighting in the Kursk region, where Ukraine launched an incursion in August. Kyiv says it still controls several hundred square kilometres of territory there.

Pyongyang has also been supplying Russia with vast quantities of artillery shells, according to Kyiv and its western allies.

Russia has neither confirmed nor denied the presence of North Korean troops in Kursk, and there was no immediate reaction from Moscow or Pyongyang to the latest report.

Ukraine had previously said it captured North Korean soldiers in combat, but that they had been badly wounded and died shortly afterwards.

SPECIAL FORCES OPERATION

Zelenskiy said in a later video address that the troops had been captured by Ukraine's special forces working alongside paratroopers.

The special forces posted a video filmed from a drone claiming to show part of the operation. It showed five men in ghillie suits in a forested area, although other details were hard to make out.

A video posted by the SBU appeared to show the two captured men. One had his jaw bandaged due to an apparent wound, while the other was drinking through a straw.

A doctor interviewed for the SBU’s video, who was not named and had his face blurred, said one of the soldiers had a facial wound and would be treated by a dentist, while the other soldier had an open wound and a lower leg fracture.

The SBU said the North Koreans had been transferred to Kyiv for questioning, and that because they could not speak Ukrainian, Russian or English, their questioning was being done in Korean with the help of South Korea's NIS intelligence agency.

The SBU said one of the soldiers had been captured with a Russian military document with the name of another person registered in Russia, while the other did not have any documents.

The agency said the soldiers had been born in 2005 and 1999, and had been serving in the North Korean armed forces since 2021 and 2016 respectively.

The SBU said the two prisoners were being held in conditions that were in accordance with international law, and that a criminal investigation was being conducted to see if the men broke Ukraine's law against planning or conducting a war.​

 

[Dogun18]

 

[Saif]

Russia claims new villages in eastern Ukraine

Russia yesterday claimed the capture of two villages in eastern Ukraine where its forces have been steadily advancing for months.

www.thedailystar.net

Russia claims new villages in eastern Ukraine

Russia yesterday claimed the capture of two villages in eastern Ukraine where its forces have been steadily advancing for months.

The defence ministry said the southern group of forces had captured the village of Yantarne in the eastern Donetsk region, around 10 kilometres (six miles) southwest of Kurakhove, a key logistics hub that Moscow claimed to have seized last week.

On Saturday, Russia's army said it had also taken new territory northwest of Kurakhove.

The defence ministry said Sunday that Russian troops had also captured the village of Kalinove in the northeastern Kharkiv region.

The village is on the western bank of the Oskil River, which for a long time formed the front line between the two armies in the region.

But a Ukrainian official said Thursday that Russian forces had managed to establish a bridgehead on the western bank after crossing the river. Russia's army has spent months making attempts to cross the river, which also cuts through Kupiansk, a city recaptured by Ukraine.​

 

[Lulldapull]

Chinese and DPRK soldiers have performed very poorly in the Ukraine war and the same for their equipment such as North Korean missiles. Imam Putin has stopped purchasing any thing from North Korea.

 

[Sharma Ji]

Chinese and DPRK soldiers have performed very poorly in the Ukraine war and the same for their equipment such as North Korean missiles. Imam Putin has stopped purchasing any thing from North Korea.

What was he getting from the North Koreans earlier ? Small arms, the odd mortar hoga, I imagine

 

[Lulldapull]

What was he getting from the North Koreans earlier ? Small arms, the odd mortar hoga, I imagine

155mm and the 122mm Grad rockets and a few SRBMs for trials.

SRBMs performed sub par missed by hundreds of meters and vulnerable to PAC-3 systems and thousands of Chinese and DPRK mercenary are already dead.

Arty shells and grads are pretty standard Chinese norinco factory copycat in NK

 

[Sharma Ji]

155mm and the 122mm Grad rockets and a few SRBMs for trials.

SRBMs performed sub par missed by hundreds of meters and vulnerable to PAC-3 systems and thousands of Chinese and DPRK mercenary are already dead.

Arty shells and grads are pretty standard Chinese norinco factory copycat in NK

What SRBM seen action there, Iskander ? Wohi hai shayad theatre BM, conventional warhead.

 

[Lulldapull]

What SRBM seen action there, Iskander ? Wohi hai shayad theatre BM, conventional warhead.

Its a sassti copy of the Russhiad Isskundurr mayzile bhai.......this so called 'Hawasong 11A or KN-23'

8/10 liye Imam Putin nay for trials, sub saalay miss:

Evidence points to Russian use of North Korean missiles in Ukraine | NHK WORLD-JAPAN News

We all know these North Korean and Chinese below even Iran in capability. Aik dum chupp bettha hae China watching the wars in Ukraine and Iran vs Ijh-raheel.......lol.......They both know their weapons are toys.

 

[Sharma Ji]

China know how to do propaganda, mushkil hai asli capabilities judge karna, spl in the the absence of a real war.

What all have Iran sent Russia ? Shahed 136 and what else ?

Russia ki industrial capacity is theek thak, more than adequate for small arms and other stuff so far.

 

[Saif]

Around 300 North Korean soldiers killed

Around 300 North Korean soldiers have been killed and 2,700 wounded while fighting in Russia’s war against Ukraine, a South Korean lawmaker said yesterday, citing information from Seoul’s spy agency.

www.thedailystar.net

Around 300 North Korean soldiers killed
Says Seoul; Kremlin declines to comment on N Korean POWs

Around 300 North Korean soldiers have been killed and 2,700 wounded while fighting in Russia's war against Ukraine, a South Korean lawmaker said yesterday, citing information from Seoul's spy agency.

Seoul has previously claimed North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has sent more than 10,000 soldiers as "cannon fodder" to help Moscow fight Kyiv, in return for Russian technical assistance for Pyongyang's heavily sanctioned weapons.

Over the weekend, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Kyiv had captured two North Korean soldiers, releasing video of the injured combatants being interrogated and raising the possibility of a prisoner swap for captured Ukrainian troops.

"The deployment of North Korean troops to Russia has reportedly expanded to include the Kursk region, with estimates suggesting that casualties among North Korean forces have surpassed 3,000," lawmaker Lee Seong-kweun told reporters after a briefing from spy agency. This includes "approximately 300 deaths and 2,700 injuries," Lee said.

Meanwhile, the Kremlin declined to comment on Kyiv saying it had captured North Korean soldiers after Zelensky suggested he was ready to exchange them for Ukrainian POWs.​

 

[Saif]

Ukraine launches big strikes on Russian cities

Ukraine struck Russian regions with a major drone and missile attack overnight, damaging factories in at least three cities, officials and media said yesterday.

www.thedailystar.net

Ukraine launches big strikes on Russian cities
Factories in three cities damaged; airports closed

Ukraine struck Russian regions with a major drone and missile attack overnight, damaging factories in at least three cities, officials and media said yesterday.

The Shot Telegram channel said that Russia had downed more than 200 Ukrainian drones and five US-made ATACMS ballistic missiles.

"The enemy has organised a massive combined strike on the territory of the Russian regions," the Two Majors war blogger said.

Moscow said Ukraine had fired six US-made ATACMS ballistic missiles, six UK-made Storm Shadow cruise missiles and at least 146 drones into Russia in an attack that it said would not go unanswered.

Roman Busargin, governor of the Saratov region about 720 km southeast of Moscow, said the cities of Saratov and Engels, on opposite banks of the Volga River, had been subjected to a mass drone attack and there was damage to two industrial sites. Schools had shifted to remote learning, he said.

Ukraine attacked the same region last week and claimed to have struck an oil depot serving an airbase for Russian nuclear bomber planes, causing a huge fire that took five days to put out.

Ukraine fired US and British missiles, 146 drones at Russia: Moscow

Flight restrictions were imposed at airports in Kazan, Saratov, Penza, Ulyanovsk and Nizhnekamsk, Russia's aviation watchdog said.

The independent Astra news outlet reported a fire at an industrial site in the city of Kazan, east of Moscow, as a result of a drone attack.

Alexander Bogomaz, the governor of the Bryansk region in western Russia, said Ukraine had launched a major missile attack but did not say which missiles had been used.​

 

[Lulldapull]

China know how to do propaganda, mushkil hai asli capabilities judge karna, spl in the the absence of a real war.

What all have Iran sent Russia ? Shahed 136 and what else ?

Russia ki industrial capacity is theek thak, more than adequate for small arms and other stuff so far.

Iran has sent the Shahed 131/ 136 in big numbers. And set up their factories over there too. And some Mohajir-6 UCAV's as well. I'm not sure about Arash-2 drones but the product-53 is Rizwan drone clone which again Irans sold them the factory. And many online say the Lancet is also a Russhiand/ Irani co-development, where they went ahead with a tactical Lancet and Iran developed it into the Meraj-532 series.

Recently the pics of both an unknown Iranian air defense system and the Fath-360 SRBMs being unloaded at the Russian port have surfaced.

 

[Saif]

Russia launches missile barrage at Ukraine

Russia launched a new barrage of missiles and drones at Ukraine yesterday, targeting gas infrastructure and other energy facilities in western regions in the latest strike on the country’s hobbled power system as it approaches mid-winter.

www.thedailystar.net

Russia launches missile barrage at Ukraine

Energy facilities in western regions hit; residents in Kyiv take shelter as capital attacked

Russia launched a new barrage of missiles and drones at Ukraine yesterday, targeting gas infrastructure and other energy facilities in western regions in the latest strike on the country's hobbled power system as it approaches mid-winter.

President Volodymyr Zelensky said that the Russian forces launched over 40 missiles during the morning attack and used more than 70 drones overnight. Ukrainian air defences shot down at least 30 missiles, he said.

"Another massive Russian attack. It's the middle of winter, and the target for the Russians remains unchanged: our energy infrastructure," Zelensky said in a social media post on X platform.

"Among their objectives were gas and energy facilities that sustain normal life for our people."

The capital Kyiv also came under attack, with hundreds of residents taking shelter in underground metro stations across the capital, sleeping on yoga mats and sitting on folded chairs with their pets.

The governor of Ukraine's western Lviv region said two energy facilities, in the Drohobych and Stryi districts, were damaged. In neighbouring Ivano-Frankivsk, the governor said air defences were fending off Russian attacks on facilities. Both said no injuries had been reported.

Ukrainians use natural gas mainly for heating homes and cooking. The country uses gas stored over the summer months to use in winter, when daily production does not cover consumption.​

 

[Saif]

Moscow, Kyiv exchange 50 POWs

Russia and Ukraine have each released 25 captured prisoners of war in the first exchange of 2025, both countries said on Wednesday...

www.newagebd.net

Moscow, Kyiv exchange 50 POWs
Agence France-Presse . Kyiv, Ukraine 16 January, 2025, 01:16

Russia and Ukraine have each released 25 captured prisoners of war in the first exchange of 2025, both countries said on Wednesday.

Thousands of fighters have been returned in dozens of exchanges since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, a rare form of cooperation between Moscow and Kyiv after nearly three years of fighting.

‘As a result of the negotiation process, 25 Russian servicemen were returned from territory controlled by the Kyiv regime. In return, 25 Ukrainian servicemen were handed over,’ Russia’s defence ministry said on Telegram.

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky said 25 people were ‘returning home to Ukraine’, including some who fought at the Azovstal steel plant in the southern city of Mariupol, captured by Russia in May 2022.

He said some of those released were ‘civilians,’ though Russia said it had released only Ukrainian soldiers.

‘Bringing our people home is what Ukraine is constantly working on, and we will not stop until we bring all of our people back,’ Zelensky said in a post on X.

He published photos of some of those freed, including a man receiving a medical check and one sitting in a vehicle clutching a Ukrainian flag.

‘Many of them have severe injuries and illnesses,’ Zelensky said.

Russia said its soldiers were being given ‘the necessary psychological and medical help’ in Belarus, Moscow’s close ally, before their return to Russia.

Russian human rights ombudswoman Tatyana Moskalkova published a video of her calling the wife of one man to share the news.

Another cried as he spoke to his mother on the phone. The United Arab Emirates helped mediate the deal, both sides said.

Meanwhile, Russia launched dozens of missiles and drones at the Ukrainian energy sector, Kyiv said Wednesday, ramping up a months-long bombing campaign at a precarious moment of the war for Ukraine.

The barrage came just one day after Kyiv said it had carried out its largest aerial attack of the war on Russian army factories and energy hubs hundreds of kilometres from the front line.

The Ukrainian air force said Russia had deployed 43 cruise and ballistic missiles and 74 attack drones in the overnight barrage that appeared to have targeted sites mainly in western Ukraine.

‘Another massive Russian attack. It is the middle of winter, and the target for the Russians remains the same: our energy sector,’ Zelensky wrote on social media.

The Russian defence ministry confirmed in a statement its forces had carried out ‘high precision’ strikes on energy facilities that ‘support the Ukrainian military-industrial complex.’

It also repeated its claim that all the designated targets had been struck.

But the Ukrainian air force said 30 missiles had been shot down as well as 47 drones, while Zelensky said the authorities had been able to maintain the ‘operation of our energy system.’

His comments, in which he urged allies to supply air-defence systems already promised to Ukraine, came ahead of a meeting in Warsaw between Zelensky and Polish prime minister Donald Tusk.

A senior Ukrainian official said the leaders would discuss expectations for the upcoming US presidency of Donald Trump and defence.

Poland scrambled fighter jets to secure its airspace, its Operational Command announced on social media, adding that there had been no violations of its airspace over its three-hour mission.​

 

[Saif]

Blasts in Kyiv as UK PM inks ‘landmark’ 100-year accord

British prime minister Keir Starmer signed a ‘landmark’ 100-year partnership agreement with Ukraine during an unannounced visit to the war-torn country on Thursday, seeking to shore up support for Kyiv before Donald Trump returns to the White House....

www.newagebd.net

Blasts in Kyiv as UK PM inks ‘landmark’ 100-year accord
Agence France-Presse . Kyiv, Ukraine 16 January, 2025, 23:54

British prime minister Keir Starmer signed a ‘landmark’ 100-year partnership agreement with Ukraine during an unannounced visit to the war-torn country on Thursday, seeking to shore up support for Kyiv before Donald Trump returns to the White House.

Loud blasts and air raid sirens rang out over the Ukrainian capital after Starmer’s arrival as air defence systems in central Kyiv repelled a Russian drone attack, officials and AFP journalists reported.

In Starmer’s first official visit to Kyiv since taking office last July, he pledged steadfast support for Ukraine in the face of the Russian invasion, and said any deal to end the fighting must ‘guarantee’ Ukraine’s security and independence.

The visit is the latest meeting that Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky is holding in a flurry of talks with his country’s allies before Trump’s return next week.

The incoming Republican has stoked fears in Kyiv and Europe that he will cut Washington’s vital military aid or force Ukraine to accept a ceasefire on terms that reward Russia for its February 2022 invasion.

Starmer said he would ‘work with all of our allies’ to ensure any settlement was ‘robust enough to guarantee Ukraine’s security, guarantee any possible peace and deter any future aggression.’

Under the 100-year agreement, London and Kyiv pledged to ‘deepen defence cooperation’ and boost Ukraine’s defence industry, recognising it as a ‘future NATO ally.’

Speaking in Kyiv, Starmer hailed it as a ‘landmark agreement, the very first of its kind, a new partnership between the UK and Ukraine that reflects the huge affection that exists between our two nations.’

Zelensky said ties with Britain were ‘closer than ever’ and called the new agreement ‘truly comprehensive.’

Starmer had kicked off the visit by laying wreaths with Zelensky to commemorate killed Ukrainian soldiers and visiting a burns hospital treating wounded servicemen.

Ahead of their meeting, Zelensky said that he and Starmer would discuss the possibility of having Western troops stationed in Ukraine to oversee any ceasefire agreement, a divisive proposal initially put forward by French President Emmanuel Macron.

Starmer did not say whether Britain would be willing to deploy troops.

‘It is really important that Ukraine is put in the strongest possible position,’ he said in response to a question about whether Britain would send a military contingent to the country.

The UK has been one of Ukraine’s biggest military backers, pledging £12.8 billion ($16 billion) in military and civilian aid since Russia invaded three years ago.

London has committed £3 billion ($3.7 billion) of support every year ‘for as long as it takes’, and is also providing a £2.2 billion loan backed by profits on frozen Russian assets.

The United States remains by far Ukraine’s biggest financial backer — but that looks set to change when Trump arrives.

His nominee for secretary of state, Marco Rubio, said Wednesday that the new administration would instead seek ‘bold diplomacy’ to end the war.

‘There will have to be concessions made by the Russian Federation but also by the Ukrainians,’ he said.

Trump has previously vowed to end the war within a day, with his aides speaking of leveraging US assistance to Ukraine to force it into territorial concessions.

Zelensky, who is pushing a ‘peace through strength’ message, said Kyiv was ‘not considering security guarantees for Ukraine without the United States of America.’

As part of Ukraine’s whirlwind diplomatic programme, Italy defence minister Guido Crosetto announced on Thursday that he had also arrived in Kyiv on an official visit for a ‘series of institutional meetings’.

In Poland a day earlier, Zelensky had called for the West to buy Kyiv weapons with some $250 billion of unallocated frozen Russian assets.

The visits come at a precarious moment for Ukraine on the battlefield.

Fighting has escalated before Trump’s inauguration on Monday, as both sides seek to gain the upper hand in anticipation of potential negotiations aimed at settling the war launched by Russia in February 2022.

Zelensky conceded on Thursday that Russia had the ‘initiative’ in the east of the country, but pointed to Ukraine’s on-going hold of Russian territory in its western Kursk region as a sign of his forces’ potential.

At several key points in the northern Kharkiv and eastern Donetsk regions, Russian forces have exploited their advantages in manpower and resources to steadily advance.​

 

[Lulldapull]

I'm afraid Russia has lost its $250 billion investment in the west accrued over the last 2 decades.

Iraq also has half a trillion and the entire GCC has multiple times that amount.

Dis da whole game gents.....lol......Not Islamukk terror or Al-Qaeda or Al-Nusra or talibunnies.

No money, no honey baby.

Iran knows dis game well, cuz it got played real bad under the Shah.

NO MORE!!!!!

 

[Saif]

Ukraine strikes Russian oil depot, aviation plant

Ukraine fired a wave of drones at Russia overnight, sparking a blaze at an oil depot and “explosions” at a plant producing military aircraft, its army said yesterday.

www.thedailystar.net

Ukraine strikes Russian oil depot, aviation plant

Ukraine fired a wave of drones at Russia overnight, sparking a blaze at an oil depot and "explosions" at a plant producing military aircraft, its army said yesterday.

Neither side has shown signs of deescalating since US President Donald Trump returned to office on Monday. The Republican has promised to bring a swift end to the nearly three-year war, but has not yet set out a plan for doing so.

In the western Voronezh region bordering Ukraine, Kyiv said it struck an oil depot near the town of Liski for the second time in less than a week, sparking another blaze at the facility.

"Tanks with fuel and lubricants used by the occupiers to supply Russian troops caught fire," the Ukrainian army said on Facebook.

The region's governor, Alexander Gusev, said the fire was caused by debris from a downed drone and that no-one was injured.

Ukraine also said it struck an aviation plant producing "combat aircraft" in the western Russian city of Smolensk, sparking "explosions".

The governor of the Smolensk region did not comment on the attack, saying only that falling debris from downed drones had sparked "roof fires".

In the Orenburg region bordering Kazakhstan, hundreds of kilometres from the frontline, authorities in the towns of Yasny and Komarovsky urged civilians to take cover in their nearest shelters due to the risk of a "drone attack".​

 

[Saif]

2,00,000 int’l troops needed to secure any Ukraine peace: Zelensky

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky said any peace deal agreed with Russia would require at least 200,000 European peacekeepers to oversee it, according to comments published on Wednesday...

www.newagebd.net

2,00,000 int’l troops needed to secure any Ukraine peace: Zelensky
Agence France-Presse . Kyiv, Ukraine 23 January, 2025, 00:07

Volodymyr Zelensky. | AFP file photo.

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky said any peace deal agreed with Russia would require at least 200,000 European peacekeepers to oversee it, according to comments published on Wednesday.

US president Donald Trump’s return to the White House has raised the spectre of some kind of halt in the fighting after he vowed to end the war — though he has never explained how.

Speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos a day earlier, Zelensky said any deal to end the conflict would need to be overseen by a large foreign contingent of peacekeepers.

Zelensky said that given the small size of the Ukrainian army compared to that of Russia, ‘we need contingents with a very strong number of soldiers’ to secure any peace deal.

‘From all the Europeans? Two hundred thousand. It’s a minimum. Otherwise, it’s nothing,’ he said.

He said any other arrangement would be akin to the monitoring mission led by the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe in eastern Ukraine that disintegrated when Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022.

‘They had offices and that’s all,’ Zelensky said, underscoring the need from the Ukrainian perspective for an armed force to prevent further Russian attacks.

The Ukrainian leader has repeatedly said that Ukraine must be represented at any talks with international parties to end the conflict and that only robust security guarantees can dissuade Russia from attacking again.

Ukraine’s fear that Moscow would use a truce to rebuild its military stems partially from the decade that followed peace agreements between Kremlin-backed separatists and Kyiv in 2014 which failed to halt Moscow’s full-scale invasion in 2022.

In an earlier address at Davos, Zelensky called on Europe to establish a joint defence policy and said European capitals should be prepared to increase spending, while calling into question Trump’s commitment to NATO, the US-led security bloc.

Trump on Tuesday indicated he would consider imposing fresh sanctions on Russia if president Vladimir Putin refuses to negotiate a deal to end the war in Ukraine.​

 

[Saif]

Russian captures village in Ukraine’s Kharkiv region

Russia’s army said on Tuesday its forces had captured a large village in Ukraine’s northeastern Kharkiv region, the latest territorial gain for Moscow’s advancing troops as Kyiv warned of intense fighting in two other key frontline towns.

www.newagebd.net

Russian captures village in Ukraine’s Kharkiv region
Agence France-Presse . Moscow 29 January, 2025, 00:40

Russia’s army said on Tuesday its forces had captured a large village in Ukraine’s northeastern Kharkiv region, the latest territorial gain for Moscow’s advancing troops as Kyiv warned of intense fighting in two other key frontline towns.

Russia’s defence ministry said its forces had ‘liberated’ the village of Dvorichna, which had a pre-conflict population of more than 3,000.

The village — located across the strategic Oskil river — was seized by Russian forces at the start of their full-scale military offensive in 2022, before being re-taken by Kyiv months later in a swift counter-offensive.

But Ukraine’s army has been pushed back over the past year, outgunned and outmanned by Russia’s troops across the 1,000-kilometre front line.

Kyiv’s army said Tuesday its forces were repelling fierce Russian attacks in the embattled towns of Chasiv Yar and Toretsk in the eastern Donetsk region.

‘With the support of artillery, the enemy continues to storm our positions at the Kramatorsk and Toretsk sectors,’ Ukraine’s Khortytsya troop group, tasked with holding ground at key sectors of the industrial region, said in a statement on social media.

‘Heavy fighting continues in the urban areas of Chasiv Yar and Toretsk,’ it added.

Ukrainian military bloggers, with links to the defence ministry, say Russian forces are advancing on the flanks of Chasiv Yar, a strategic hilltop town that was home to some 12,000 people before the conflict.

Toretsk is one of a string of mining towns in the Donetsk region and Russian forces have been fighting for months to capture it.

‘Almost 140 artillery shells were fired at our fortifications in Chasiv Yar, and more than 80 in Toretsk,’ Khortytsya said, without specifying over what period of time.

Eight people meanwhile were wounded in overnight Russian attacks in the southern Odesa region and the eastern Kharkiv region, local officials said.

Ukraine’s air-force said that its air defence systems had downed 65 drones over 13 regions including Kyiv, where AFP journalists heard explosions ringing out.

In Odesa, four people were wounded including a 91-year-old man and a school was damaged in the centre of the city, officials said.

An attack on the northeastern city of Kharkiv meanwhile sparked a large blaze at a ‘production facility’, prosecutors said, forcing two people, including a nine-year-old girl to seek medical attention, while a drone strike on a village in the suburbs set a house on fire, wounding three people.​