President Volodymyr Zelenskiy visited Ukrainian troops on the front line as heavy fighting raged near the eastern town of Kupiansk and Russia accused Kyiv’s troops of shelling a bakery in the occupied town of Lysychansk, killing at least 28 people.
Kyiv did not comment on Moscow’s allegation that it was to blame for the explosion in Lysychansk, which Russian troops seized in July 2022, five months after the Kremlin launched a full invasion of Ukraine that has now killed tens of thousands of people and displaced millions of Ukrainians.
Russian-installed officials in the Luhansk region of eastern Ukraine said nine women and a child were among those killed in the alleged attack, which Moscow said was carried out using a US-supplied long-range rocket system. Ukrainian officials have said previous such claims are part of Kremlin efforts to weaken western support for their country.
Mr Zelenskiy visited troops near Robotyne in the partly occupied Zaporizhzhia region of southeastern Ukraine, as speculation continued to swirl around whether he plans to sack the commander of his armed forces Valery Zaluzhnyi.
“It is a great honour to be here today. To support you and present awards. You are facing a difficult and crucial mission – to repel the enemy and win this war…All sane people in the world understand that you have the most difficult job, and all Ukrainians are proud of you,” the presidential administration quoted him as saying.
On Saturday, Mr Zelenskiy gave medals to members of Ukraine’s GUR military intelligence service that used explosive marine drones to sink Russia’s Ivanovets warship last week in Crimea, which Moscow illegally annexed in 2014.
“You have done a lot… both on land and at sea. Russia truly feels pain from your actions, from the actions of your brothers in arms, and it is crucial that the Russian instigators of this war suffer its consequences every day,” he said.
Ukraine failed last summer in a bid to liberate swathes of Zaporizhzhia region, but has intensified drone attacks on occupied territory and Russia itself in recent months: on Saturday, a drone hit a large oil refinery in Volgograd, some 400km east of Ukraine, following other recent drone attacks on Russian fuel facilities in Saint Petersburg, Bryansk and Tuapse.
Kyiv’s military said battles continued along the 1,000km front line and that Russian forces were massing near Kupiansk in the Kharkiv region and near Lyman, about 100km to the south in Donetsk province.
“The operational situation remains tense. Heavy fighting is taking place in all areas of the front. The enemy continues to conduct high-intensity assaults and is constantly bringing up new reserves,” said Oleksandr Syrskyi, commander of Ukraine’s ground forces, after visiting troops in the Kupiansk sector.
Kyiv’s military says Russia has gathered about 40,000 soldiers, 500 tanks and more than 400 artillery pieces near Kupiansk, and a similar force close to Lyman.
Col Gen Syrskyi is a possible replacement for Gen Zaluzhnyi if Mr Zelenskiy does sack the popular commander amid reports of disagreements over aspects of Ukraine’s defence.
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