Ukraine’s military says it has repelled an attack near Blahodatna, but a Russian mercenary group says it is under control.
Ukraine’s military said its forces repelled an attack in the eastern Donetsk region after the Russian paramilitary group Wagner said it had taken control of the village of Blahodatne.
Forces “repelled attacks near … Blagodatna” and 13 other settlements in Donetsk, Ukraine’s military said in its daily report on Sunday.
But Wagner’s group said earlier that its units had captured the village.
“PMC Wagner units occupied Blahodatne. “Blahodatne is under our control,” said Wagner boss Jevgenij Prigožin.
There was no immediate confirmation from the Russian Defense Ministry.
Russian troops intensified attacks in the east of Ukraine, especially on the towns of Vuhledar and Bakhmut. Moscow’s primary goal is to seize the eastern region of Donetsk, which it has already declared to be part of Russia.
Ukraine is facing a “very difficult” situation in the east and needs faster arms supplies and new types of weapons to withstand Russian attacks, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Sunday.
“The situation is very difficult. Bakhmut, Vuhledar and other sectors in the Donetsk region – there are constant Russian attacks,” Zelenskyy said in his nightly video address.
“Russia wants the war to drag on and exhaust our forces. Therefore, we must make time our weapon. We need to speed up events, speed up supply and open up new weapon options for Ukraine.”
Ukrainian authorities, meanwhile, reported that at least three people were killed on Sunday after Russian shelling of residential areas in the southern city of Kherson.
According to the administration, two men and one woman were killed by artillery fire, and six were wounded.
Civil facilities were damaged, including a hospital, school, bus station, post office, bank and residential buildings.
While the front in southern Ukraine has been much quieter recently than in the east – especially since Moscow withdrew from the city of Kherson last November – the city is still under frequent Russian shelling.
Russian-backed authorities said Sunday that four people were killed and five wounded after Ukrainian forces attacked a bridge in Melitopol district in southeastern Ukraine.
Yevgeny Balitsky, the Russian head of the occupied part of Ukraine’s Zaporizhia region, said the missile was launched from the High Mobility Artillery Missile System (HIMARS) at the railway bridge over the Molochna River in Melitopol.
“At that time, renovation works were underway in the building. According to preliminary data, as a result of shelling, four people from the railway brigade were killed, five were injured, they are being provided with the necessary medical assistance,” he wrote on Telegram.
Moscow has also declared the Zaporizhia region, which includes Europe’s largest nuclear power plant, part of Russia, but does not fully control the entire territory.