The Ukrainian army announced the restoration of more areas in Donetsk province, and Russia continued to target four provinces, while US President Joe Biden warned it against using nuclear weapons, while the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) discussed in a meeting in Estonia the preparations of the eastern front bordering Russia.

The 66th Division of the Mechanized Brigade of the Ukrainian Army confirmed the recovery of the town of Chorova, six kilometers from the city of Lyman, in the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine.

The General Staff reported that during the past 24 hours, the eastern and southern regions of Ukraine were subjected to four missile strikes and more than 20 air raids, in addition to attacks from missile systems.

Russian strikes focused on the Kharkiv regions, the vicinity of Kramatorsk and Bakhmut, in addition to bombing towns along the southern front.

The commission indicated that the Russian forces are trying to refocus their efforts to occupy the Donetsk region completely, and to disrupt the Ukrainian attempts to advance.

The Wall Street Journal quoted Ukrainian military as saying that Russia had inflicted heavy damage on Ukrainian forces by using Iranian kamikaze drones.

They added that the Shahed-136 planes supplied by Iran to Russia carried out devastating strikes in Kharkiv.


Russian novel

On the other hand, the Russian Defense Ministry said today, Saturday, that hundreds of Ukrainian soldiers were killed during Russian bombing of Ukrainian sites in Kherson, Mykolaiv, Donetsk and Kharkiv provinces yesterday, noting that Ukrainian forces carried out a "failed" attack near Pravdin in Kherson, and that 8 Ukrainian marches were shot down.

Ministry spokesman Igor Kwashnikov said that the Ukrainian forces again targeted the area of ​​the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant with fifteen artillery shells, stressing that they were intercepted.

The spokesman stressed that the radiological situation in Zaporozhye, which is the largest nuclear power plant in Europe, is still normal.

A Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesman denied that Ukrainian forces had bombed near the facility.

US President Joe Biden also warned Russia against using nuclear weapons in its war on Ukraine.

Biden added, "Moscow's use of nuclear weapons in its war on Ukraine will change the face of the war in a way that has not happened since World War II."


Armament concerns

After Moscow's warnings against supplying Ukraine with long-range missiles, the US network "NBC" (NBC) quoted two military sources that the administration of President Joe Biden has postponed the provision of long-range missiles to Ukraine, fearing that it would cause a serious Russian response, according to the two sources.

The two sources added that officials in the Ministry of Defense (Pentagon) expressed their fears that the missiles could be used against targets inside Russian territory, and might spark a wider war with Russia.

Pentagon officials have also advised against supplying Ukraine with the long-range missiles known as the Tactical Missile System.

The network quoted a US official as saying that the delivery of long-range missiles to Ukraine is not on the table at the moment, but the dynamics of the battlefield may change, and as Ukraine's needs develop, so do the types of assistance, as he put it.

NATO meeting

These positions came as the chiefs of staff of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) continued their meetings in the Estonian capital Tallinn to discuss several military files, including the alliance's preparations and readiness in the Baltic states and the eastern front bordering Russia.

The meeting will also discuss the equipment of the combat groups to be deployed in the region next year.

And participate in the meetings for the first time the chiefs of staff of Finland and Sweden, after their countries submitted an application for membership to join the alliance during its summit held in Madrid last summer.

During the meeting, the head of the NATO Military Committee Rob Baer said that Moscow is trying to change the existing world order, through its war on Ukraine.

Bayer added that the alliance entered a new phase through this war.

For her part, Estonian Prime Minister Kaia Kallas said that sanctions against Russia and its international isolation must continue, and that all tools must be used to end the war.

She added that what she described as Russia's defeat in Kharkiv is evidence of the usefulness of Western support for Kiev, accusing Russia of using energy for blackmail.

Kallas indicated that the international system will be in danger if Russia's aggression and expansionist ambitions are not confronted, as she put it.

As for the Estonian Chief of Staff, Martin Herm, he said that the war is not far from his country, and that everyone in NATO imagines the possibility that Estonia will be the next target for Russia.

Herm added that the war is taking place close to the borders of four member countries of the alliance, and that every delay in providing support or making decisions will affect in a negative way on NATO.

Herm also described Russia as the biggest and most prominent threat to NATO's security, considering that the war on the European continent began years ago when Russia invaded parts of Ukraine.