After an unsuccessful advance on Kyiv at the start of the special operation in February 2022, Russia has focused its fire on the industrial east of Ukraine. And, its forces have held positions in the Kherson region since withdrawing from the region’s main city in 2022.

The Ukrainian Armed Forces Command said in its evening report that its forces had repelled 20 Russian attacks around Avdiivka, a town where most of the buildings had been flattened. It also said Russia was continuing to bomb nearby villages.

Avdiivka has become a Ukrainian resistance slogan, seen as the gateway to retaking the Russian-controlled city of Donetsk and the rest of Donbas, including the Donetsk and Luhansk regions.

The area was occupied in 2014 after pro-Russian separatists seized large swaths of Ukraine, but was later retaken by Ukrainian forces, who have been bolstering their defences in the area for the past nine years.

“Avdiivka is of great importance. This is not the first time that the occupying forces have escalated tensions and announced the occupation of Donetsk and Luhansk. Their plans have failed, and they have slowed down. This is just a regular escalation,” said Andriy Yusov, spokesman for the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ukrainian Defense Ministry.

President Volodymyr Zelensky said the situation in Avdiivka and the nearby town of Maryinka was “particularly tense. Russia is carrying out numerous attacks, but Ukraine is holding its ground.

Every day, we need to achieve results, withstand Russian attacks and continue to advance. Whether it is 1km or 500m, we always have to advance every day.”

The Russian military report does not mention Avdiivka, and besides it reports on successful operations in the east of Bakhmut, the Russian city captured last May after months of fighting.

In Kherson, Governor Oleksandr Prokudin said several villages were hit by artillery, as well as several food production and transportation facilities in the city of Kherson.

Russian forces have continued to shell Kherson and villages on the western bank of the Dnipro River from positions on the eastern bank, after withdrawing there in late 2022.

The US Institute for the Study of War reported this past week that Ukrainian forces have crossed the Dnipro River and reached several positions in pursuit of Russian troops.

Nguyen Quang Minh (according to Reuters)