KYIV — With world leaders focusing their attention on trying to solve the Israel-Hamas conflict, Russian President Vladimir Putin has resumed hammering Ukraine on all fronts.
Over the weekend, Kremlin forces attacked Ukrainian energy infrastructure and struck regions with missiles and drones. Newly replenished Russian forces have also been pressing Ukrainian troops on all parts of the front line.
On Saturday and Sunday, Russia shelled the Kherson region alone more than 200 times, Oleksandr Prokudin, the regional governor, said in a statement.
Massive attacks caused disruption of electricity and water supply in Kherson and in the Donetsk region, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in an evening statement Sunday. Kherson’s electricity supply has since been restored, with water restored to all but ten houses, he added.
“We must be aware that there will be more such Russian strikes as winter approaches. More on generation facilities, on the network. You have to be ready for this,” Zelenskyy said, addressing local authorities and energy companies. He said that the Ukrainian government has been doing everything it can to strengthen the country’s air defenses.
Those air defenses were busy on Monday, as Russia attacked Ukraine with five X-59 aviation missiles, one ballistic Iskander missile and 12 Shahed drones.
The Ukrainian Air Force reported shooting down only two missiles and 11 drones, with others striking housing and infrastructure. Ukraine’s central Poltava and Kirovohrad regions and western Khmelnytskyi region came under drone and missile attack. Air strikes and intense artillery fire were also reported in the northern regions of Chernihiv and Sumy, as well as northeastern Kharkiv.
Russian forces continued storming and shelling Ukrainian positions in Avdiivka and Mariinka in the Donetsk region, while attempting to regain positions near Robotyne on the Zaporizhzhia front, where Ukrainians are on the offensive, Ukrainian army general staff said Monday morning, adding that all attacks were unsuccessful.
“The situation is tough. But everything is under control. Russians have not advanced,” Vitalii Barabash, Avdiivka military administration head, told POLITICO.
But the Deepstate Project live map — a Ukrainian open source analytics project based on information from the general staff and soldiers on the ground analyzing Russia’s invasion — shows Moscow’s troops have advanced a few kilometers south and north of Avdiivka over the past 10 days, deepening the pocket they want to create around the destroyed city. Ukraine’s stats from the front show a growing number of Russian casualties: 800-1,000 a day since the start of their renewed assault.
“We can see the concentration of forces and efforts of the Russians. They made high-quality fortified areas along the entire front line, and now they want to break through the defense in the Donetsk direction and take Avdiivka,” Egor Firsov, Ukrainian army sergeant and combat medic, said in a Facebook post. “We managed to stop their attack for now. From my personal sources, Donetsk morgues and hospitals are now overcrowded. I will not say the exact number of enemy losses. But it’s definitely hundreds, just in one day. However, they will keep trying.”
