War Ukraine - Russia, last minute | kyiv prepares a counteroffensive as Russia advances on Bakhmut

• War Ukraine Mariupol surgeon: "We operate under bombs until the last patient"

The battle to control

continues to be a key one in the

.

While the occupation forces continue to advance on the city, the Ukrainian army is preparing for a counter-offensive in the area.

Russian troops have reported that they have occupied favorable positions in the industrial zone of the Bakhmut AZOM metallurgical plant that allow them to "

, as well as create a good beachhead for the future advance of our forces."

Some military experts have questioned the sense of holding the city, but Ukrainian ground forces commander Oleksandr Syrsky said it helps buy time in preparation for a future counteroffensive.

"

and launch a counteroffensive, which is not far off," he said.

update narration

2:59 p.m.

Kuleba asks to start training pilots while waiting for fighters

The Ukrainian Foreign Minister, Dmytro Kuleba, doubts a prompt supply of combat fighters, which is why he has called to go ahead and start training the pilots now, while urging the German government to facilitate the delivery of ammunition.

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1:45 p.m.

Russia continues to attack Donetsk: 220 Ukrainians killed

The Russian Defense Ministry has ensured that its forces continue to carry out military operations in Donetsk, claiming

, reports Reuters.

"In the direction of Donetsk... more than 220 Ukrainian soldiers

," the Defense Ministry said. .

Both sides claim to have inflicted significant losses and the exact figures are difficult to verify.

or wounded in a recent 24-hour period as they fought for control of Bakhmut.

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12:04

Ukraine repels 92 Russian attacks in Donbas

Ukrainian troops repelled 92 enemy attacks in Donbas in five directions last day, according to the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

According to the statement published on Facebook and collected by

, "the main objective of the enemy during the day remained attempts to

."

"For this, the enemy concentrated its main efforts on carrying out

. Thanks to professional and coordinated actions, our defenders repelled 92 enemy attacks in these directions," he specified.

The General Staff also indicated that the aviation of the defense forces carried out

during the day .

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11:15 a.m.

Russia tries to control Krasnohirivka (Donetsk)

Russian troops are trying to control the town of

, north of Donetsk, in an attempt to tighten the siege of Avdiivka, an important Ukrainian stronghold in the east of the country, as reported by the former spokesman for the pro-Russian militias, Eduard Basurin.

"The town is practically liberated,

, the retired colonel told TASS.

According to Basurin, "the complete liberation of Krasnohirivka will allow the Russian troops to tighten the pincers around Avdiivka more firmly."

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10:20

Kuleba asks Germany for more ammunition

Ukraine's foreign minister urged Germany in an interview published on Sunday to speed up ammunition supplies and start training Ukrainian pilots on Western fighter jets.

newspaper

that

.

He said German arms makers had told him at the Munich Security Conference last month that they were ready to deliver, but were waiting for the government to sign the contracts.

"So the problem is with the government," Kuleba said in the interview, reported by Reuters.

Kuleba made it clear that he did not expect the Western allies to soon deliver the fighter jets it has been requesting to Ukraine.

But he said the Ukrainian pilots should be trained anyway, so they would be ready once that decision was made, the newspaper wrote.

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10:07

40 missiles in Kharkov so far this year

Volodímir Zelenski has assured in Kharkov that he has suffered 40 Russian missile attacks so far this year.

"Since the beginning of this year alone, in less than two and a half months, more than 40 enemy missiles have already hit Kharkov," the Ukrainian president said in his evening speech.

According to Zelenski, "the evil State" uses a variety of weapons -"missiles and artillery, drones and mortars"- with a single objective: "to destroy life and leave nothing human", reports EFE

"Ruins, rubble, shell holes in the ground are a self-portrait of Russia that he paints where normal life reigns without Russia," he said on the day that three people "who simply went to a store to buy groceries" lost their lives in Kherson

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10:03

Hundreds killed in one day in Bakhmut

Ukraine and Russia claimed on Saturday that

, in which Kiev has faced relentless attacks and in which a small river running through the city now marks the new front line, reports Reuters.

Serhiy Cherevatyi, a Ukrainian military spokesman,

had been killed and more than 300 wounded in the city.

The Russian Defense Ministry said up to

had been killed in the wider Donetsk part of the front line.

Both sides have admitted to suffering and inflicting heavy losses at Bakhmut, although the exact number of casualties is difficult to independently verify.

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9:12

"It is necessary to gain time"

Ukrainian armed forces were preparing for an imminent counter-offensive on Sunday, after a senior commander said the defense of the city of Bakhmut, under a heavy Russian siege, was needed to "buy time" before their onslaught.

Some military experts have questioned the sense of holding the city, but Ukrainian ground forces commander Oleksandr Syrsky said it helps buy time in preparation for a future counteroffensive.

"The real heroes are the defenders who carry the weight of the eastern front on their shoulders," the official said, quoted by the Ukrainian army's press service.

"

to accumulate reserves and launch a counteroffensive, which is not far off," he said.

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9:09

Russia, in the metallurgy of Bakhmut

Russian troops

, retired Lieutenant Colonel of the People's Militia of the self-proclaimed Lugansk People's Republic Andrei Marochko reported today.

"In the city of Bakhmut, the assault groups occupied favorable positions in the industrial area of ​​the metal processing plant" AZOM, he told the Russian agency TASS, according to EFE.

According to Márochko, these positions allow the Russian troops "

, in addition to creating a good beachhead for the future advance of our forces."

The day before, the head of the group of Russian Wagner mercenaries, Yevgueni Prigózhin, reported that these forces approached

.

For its part, the American Institute for War Studies (ISW) found that "geolocated images (...) indicate that

in the northwest of Bakhmut, 800 meters from the metal processing plant AZOM," he said.

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