‘Very fierce fighting’ in eastern Ukraine, President Zelensky calls Russian army leadership ‘troubled’

In his daily address to the Ukrainian people, President Zelensky said: “The situation on the front has not changed significantly. There is very heavy fighting in the Donetsk region, near Pashmut and Avdezhivka.” “This is where the insanity of the leadership of the Russian army is manifested. Day after day, month after month, they send people to their deaths there, and they focus their artillery bombardment on it.”

According to one of President Zelensky’s advisers, the city came under fire eight times in one day, before noon, but each time the attacks were repulsed. The governor of the region, the day before yesterday, stated that 7 civilians were killed in Bashmweet as a result of the Russian attacks.

Russian forces will be supported in the offensive by the Wagner Group, a military mercenary group. Yevgeny Prigozhin, the self-proclaimed leader of Wagner and a close confidant of Russian President Vladimir Putin, admitted last Sunday that progress on Bashmoet is slow. “Our units always meet the most severe resistance to the enemy, and I note that the enemy is well prepared and motivated, behaves confidently and in harmony. This does not prevent our fighters from moving forward, but I cannot say how long we will need. “