Ukrainian forces defending the part of the city of Bakhmut (east) that is still under their control repelled 32 attacks by Russian forces on Monday, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported on Tuesday.
According to the same source, the attacks were aimed at “gaining full control” of the municipality.
“In the direction of Bakhmut, the enemy tries to gain full control of the city and continues to launch assaults,” read a note issued by the General Staff.
“During the day, units of the (Ukrainian) defense forces repelled 32 enemy attacks on the aforementioned front,” the institution added, also referring to the Russian bombardments against various points in the area.
The head of the Russian mercenary group Wagner, Yevgueni Prigozhin, proclaimed on Monday the “legal” takeover of the city by this private army that is leading the Russian offensive in the area of the Bakhmut municipality.
Prigozhin himself acknowledged that the Ukrainian troops have not left the city and are concentrated in the western part.
According to today’s information from the Ukrainian General Staff, Russia has also launched attacks against Avdiivka and Marinka, two other cities on the eastern front that the occupation forces have been trying to take for months.
Overnight, Russian forces attacked Ukrainian territory with 17 Iranian-made kamikaze drones, “allegedly” launched from the eastern coast of the Azov Sea.
The Ukrainian Southern Command air defense shot down 14 of these aircraft, preventing them from hitting the targets.
According to the Southern Command, 13 drones were intercepted over the Odessa province and another over Mykolaiv, both located in southern Ukraine.
One of the drones caused a fire in a private infrastructure in Odessa. At the moment, it is unknown if there were deaths or injuries.
“In total, there were 17 UAV launches, presumably from the eastern coast of the Azov Sea,” the Ukrainian Air Force said in a note posted on its Telegram channel.
Azov is an inland sea located within the Black Sea, bordered by Ukraine to the west and north and Russia to the east.
Russia has occupied the entire Ukrainian coast of the Azov Sea, whose main port is the city of Mariupol.
Russia has been using Iranian-made Shahid-136 drones to attack Ukraine since October. Thanks in part to anti-aircraft systems donated by Western partners, the Ukrainian military is able to shoot down most of these drones and protect its electrical infrastructure.
Millions of Ukrainians have suffered blackouts for months due to drone and missile attacks on the country’s power grid.
Source: TSF
