Russia and Ukraine announce fierce battles in Donetsk
Ukrainians and Russians engaged in fierce fighting outside the city of Donetsk in eastern Ukraine, with both sides recording heavy losses on Thursday.
Pro-Moscow forces are trying to expel the Ukrainian army from its outskirts, according to unanimous military reports from the two countries.
Pro-Russian separatists have controlled Donetsk since 2014, but the Ukrainian army still holds large parts of the area of the same name.
Russian forces have said they are making gains in the Donetsk region, despite Kyiv's claims that they have repelled their advance.
Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said that due to the heavy losses, several Ukrainian battalions withdrew from their positions near Solidar, Avdiivka and Bakhmut.
The General Staff of the Ukrainian Army said in its daily bulletin that the situation is normal in these places.
The commission confirmed that "the enemy did not succeed in all the mentioned parts, and even retreated."
If sites such as Bakhmut fell to Russian forces, this would open the way for them to the outskirts of major cities such as Sloviansk and Kramatorsk.
Before the war, more than half a million people lived in Bakhmut.
It was reported that the fighting took place around the village of Pesky, located to the west of the former Donetsk airport, on Wednesday evening.
The separatists have already declared control of positions that have been disputed for years.
These allegations cannot be independently verified.
According to Ukraine, the towns of Marinka and Krasnohorivka, southwest of Donetsk, were recently subjected to heavy shelling.
In addition, the city center of Avdiivka was bombed.
It appears that the purpose of those efforts was to liberate Donetsk.
And the industrial city was recently bombed several times by Ukrainian artillery.
Meanwhile, Russia continued its missile attacks on major Ukrainian cities in other regions.
And four missiles hit Kharkiv in the north of the country at night.
In the south, Mykolaiv was again the target of Russian attacks.
According to preliminary information, several residential buildings were damaged, but no deaths or injuries were reported.
On the other hand, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres announced yesterday evening, Wednesday, an investigation into a devastating attack on a camp for prisoners of war in eastern Ukraine, less than a week after it was targeted.
The United Nations has received a request for this from Russia and Ukraine, Guterres said in New York.
Guterres made it clear that he was not authorized to launch criminal investigations, but that he might start a fact-finding mission.
Settings are underway.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Thursday that it was "conclusively established" that Ukraine killed its soldiers held as prisoners of war, and "there is evidence of this and nothing can be hidden here."
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