Russian forces remain relentless in their efforts to recapture the bombed eastern Ukrainian towns of Bakhmut and Avdievka, Ukraine’s military said, but are not making progress, as a Russian-founded official claimed otherwise.
The General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces said in a statement Tuesday evening that the two towns, along with other communities in the industrial Donetsk region, had borne the brunt of Russia’s attacks.
“They simply try to tire our troops with attack after attack,” said Serhiy Cherevati, spokesman for the army’s Eastern Group, reporting 70 incidents of shelling in Bakhmut alone on national television.
The military said Ukrainian fighters continued to repel the attacks and that Russia was suffering high combat casualties. Britain’s Ministry of Defense stated that Russian forces had made only “modest progress” in the effort to encircle Avdeevka and had lost several armored vehicles and tanks.