DNIPRO, Ukraine/KYIV (Reuters) -- Ukraine urged the West to speed up its supply of weapons, with the city of Dnipro reeling from a Russian missile strike that killed at least 40 people in an apartment block and Ukrainian troops under increased pressure on the eastern front.
Ukraine’s army General Staff said on Tuesday that Russia had launched more than 70 rocket attacks in the past 24 hours.
It said Russian forces shelled more than 15 settlements near the city of Bakhmut in the eastern Donetsk region, including the salt-mining town of Soledar, where Russia and Ukraine have waged fierce trench warfare for weeks.
Relentless Russian shelling has completely destroyed the city of Bakhmut and heavily damaged the city of Avdiivka in the centre of the Donetsk region.
“Very heavy fighting is continuing in the two key sectors of ... Bakhmut and Avdiivka,” Ukrainian military analyst Oleh Zhdanov said on YouTube.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in his Monday night video address that the attack on Dnipro and Russia’s attempts to gain the initiative in the war underscored the need for the West “to speed up decision-making” in supplying weapons.
Western countries have produced a steady supply of weapons to Ukraine since th war began last Feb. 24 but Zelensky and his government are insisting they need tanks.
Britain confirmed on Monday it was going to send 14 Challenger 2 tanks and other hardware, including hundreds more armored vehicles and advanced air defense missiles.
Germany is under pressure to send Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine but its government says those tanks should be supplied only if there is agreement among Kyiv’s main allies, particularly the United States.
Oleskiy Danylov, Secretary of Ukraine’s Security Council, also mentioned on Monday night the need for an acceleration in weapons supplies because the government expected Russia “to attempt to make a so-called final push.”
Russia’s Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu on Tuesday inspected a military headquarters overseeing troops fighting in Ukraine.
At the headquarters of Russia’s Vostok (East) group in an unnamed location, Shoigu was briefed by its commander and heard from commanders of other formations “on the progress of combat mission”, the ministry said in a statement.
A video released by the ministry with the statement showed Shoigu holding a meeting with military commanders in person and via video-link.
Among those taking part in the video call was Russia’s chief of the general staff Valery Gerasimov, who was recently put in charge of Moscow’s forces in Ukraine.