Situation at a glance: Russia continues to attack civilian targets in Ukraine

Russia is putting increasing pressure on the Ukrainian defenders in its war of aggression and is also continuing to target civilian targets in the neighboring country. According to official figures, at least four people were killed and 21 others injured in a rocket attack on the eastern Ukrainian region of Dnipro. The attack hit a shop, an apartment building and a residential building in the village of Tsarichanka, regional military administrator Serhiy Lyssak said on the Telegram platform. “The rescue operation is still underway,” said President Volodymyr Zelensky in his daily video message in the evening.

It was initially not clear which Russian military missile was used in this attack. Just a few days ago, Russia used a new medium-range missile in an attack on Dnipro. Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin then spoke of a new type of Oreshnik rocket. According to experts, this can also be equipped with nuclear warheads.

According to authorities, two people were killed and three others seriously injured in a Russian drone strike at a bus stop in the Kherson region in southern Ukraine in the early afternoon. In this context, Zelensky spoke of Russia’s “despicable terror.” “And it goes like that almost every day,” he said. “Ukraine is resisting this absolutely inhumane pressure.”

Russia began its full-scale invasion of neighboring Ukraine over two and a half years ago. The United Nations has since counted more than 12,000 civilians killed in the war, but believes the actual number is significantly higher.

Heavy fighting in eastern Ukraine

The Ukrainian defenders in the east of the country on the edge of the Donbass region are feeling heavy pressure. According to the General Staff in Kiev, a total of 153 combat operations as a result of Russian attacks were reported by the individual sectors of the front during the day. Russian troops repeatedly tried to break through the Ukrainian defense lines, especially around the Donbass. The most violent clashes were reported in the area around the permanent flashpoints of Pokrovsk and Kurakhove.

Russian troops launched 28 assaults near Pokrovsk during the day, as the army command in Kiev reported. At Kurakhove, which is already being attacked from three sides, Russian units have advanced a total of 38 times since the morning. There were no independent reports on the current status along these sections. In any case, much of the information provided by both warring parties can hardly be verified independently.

The two cities of Pokrovsk and Kurakhove lie on the western edge of the Donbass mining and industrial region. This is followed by an open steppe landscape up to the Dnipro River. A breakthrough would open the way for the Russian army to the important cities of Dnipro and Zaporizhzhia.

According to Ukrainian military experts, the fronts in Donbass are said to have largely been stabilized. The military leadership in Kiev recently decided to move reinforcements to the region.

Bloody fighting in the Kursk region of Russia

Meanwhile, Russian and Ukrainian units fought heavy battles around the parts of the western Russian Kursk region occupied by Ukrainians. According to a report by military experts on Ukrainian television, Russian troops are said to have fallen into a trap set by the Ukrainian armed forces during the battle for the village of Lyubimovka. The artillery fire from Russian supply columns created a “road of death”. This information could not be independently verified either.

Russia has gathered around 50,000 soldiers near Kursk, including around 10,000 North Korean fighters. With the help of these forces, Moscow wants to recapture the areas that Ukrainian troops have held under their control since a surprise advance in August.