KYIV (Reuters/AFP) -- Ukrainian counterattacks have ousted Russian forces from some positions in the besieged eastern city of Bakhmut, but the situation remains “difficult”, a top Ukrainian general said in comments released Monday.
During the past few months the battle for Bakhmut has become the fulcrum of a conflict that has seen little shift in front lines since late last year, leaving both sides looking for a breakthrough.
“The situation is quite difficult,” said Col. Gen. Oleksandr Syrskyi, the commander of ground forces, in a statement on Telegram.
He added that new Russian units, including paratroopers and fighters from the Wagner mercenary group, were being “constantly thrown into battle” despite taking heavy losses.
Russian forces have steadily made incremental gains in Bakhmut, but a Ukrainian military spokesman said on Sunday it was still possible to supply the defenders with food, ammunition and medicine.
Ukraine claimed on Monday its forces had repelled more than 36 enemy attacks on the part of the eastern frontline that stretches from Bakhmut to Maryinka, just west of Donetsk.
Kyiv is preparing to mount a widely expected counteroffensive to retake swathes of territory in the east and south.
Russian strikes killed one person and wounded three others in the Ukrainian region of Kherson, a regional official said Monday.
Moscow also launched a hail of missiles across Ukraine early on Monday, with Kyiv claiming it had shot down most of the projectiles.
Ukrainian air defense crews destroyed 15 out of 18 missiles launched by Russian forces in the early hours of Monday morning, the military said.
Kyiv’s city officials wrote on the Telegram messaging app that all missiles directed at the capital were destroyed in what they said was the second attack on the city in three days.
Air defense systems were also called into action to shield the Kyiv region, which is a separate administrative entity from the city, from Russian missiles, officials said.
Russia has also launched missiles at other Ukrainian regions overnight, including on Dnipropetrovsk, Mykola Lukashuk, the head of the Dnipro region council, said. Air defence crews shot down seven missiles, but 25 people sought medical help.
The eastern Ukrainian city of Pavlohrad was struck twice overnight, and an industrial enterprise, 19 apartment buildings and 25 private buildings, among others, were damaged or destroyed, he added.