Russian airstrike on Kiev as Ukrainian army advances near Bachmut | Abroad

“The enemy continues its attacks inside the city,” Sergey Cherevati, the head of Ukraine’s Eastern Armed Forces, said of the situation in Bachmut. His troops, meanwhile, put pressure on the Russian soldiers outside the city and continue to advance there. “The situation in Bachmoet is difficult but under control,” said Cherevati. “We can see the enemy’s intentions, and anticipate them, prepare for them.”

The Russian troops have been trying to take the strategic city of Bachmut for months, but seem to be losing momentum. They control large parts of the almost completely destroyed city, but Ukrainian troops have been advancing from the north and east in recent days to encircle the Russians.

Moscow moved thousands of troops to Bachmut for reinforcement, Ukrainian Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar said. “The enemy cannot win with quality, so he tries with quantity,” she wrote in a Facebook post. “Russian forces continue to attack with losses far greater than our losses in proportion.”

This night Kiev was again the target of a Russian airstrike. Authorities report falling debris in three neighborhoods and a fire on the roof of a residential building.

“Fire on a nine-story building in one of the residential complexes of the Dniprovskyi district,” Kiev Mayor Vitali Klitschko wrote on Telegram. No information is yet available on any casualties, he added.

The fire was caused by “falling debris,” said the head of Kiev’s civil and military administration, Serhiy Popko. He called on residents to seek shelter. Debris also fell on several streets in Darnytskyi and Solomyanskyi districts, Popko said. Reports about possible victims are still being verified.

The Ukrainian army warned at 00:45 (23:45 Belgian time) that Shahed drones were on their way to the Kiev region. Explosions were reported by the authorities, as in Cherniguev and Mariupol regions.

The army reports that the Ukrainian anti-aircraft system is active in Kiev and Cherniguev.

More south, in the port city of Mariupol, which has been controlled by the Russians since spring 2022, explosions were heard at the airport on Friday evening, the Russian state news agency ‘Tass’ reported. A lot of video images of the explosions, the cause of which is not yet known, are surfacing on social media.

Petro Andriushchenko, an adviser to the Ukrainian mayor of Mariupol, confirmed the explosions in the port city through a statement on Telegram, Ukrinform news site reported. “Explosions rocked Mariupol. Residents have heard three powerful explosions. According to the adviser, a base of 150 Russian soldiers was also hit by an attack.

A local resistance group – calling itself ‘Mariupol Resistance’ – reports that the explosions “shook an area on the outskirts of the city”. The Russian and Ukrainian military have not yet commented on the incident. According to initial reports from Russian media, there have been no casualties.

Mariupol is a port city in the south of Ukraine in the Donetsk region and was heavily besieged immediately after the start of the Russian invasion. The fighting lasted for months and in the end the Russians won the day: Mariupol has been in Russian hands since May last year. Not much remains of the port city