Ukraine cities pounded, Kyiv plays down fallout from leak of US documents
- Ukrainian soldiers come under heavy attack in Bakhmut city as Russia launched air strikes, artillery barrages
- Ukraine says counteroffensive plan not hurt by US leak, and that its strategic plans remained unchanged but that specific tactics were always subject to change
Russian forces pounded frontline cities in eastern Ukraine with air strikes and artillery attacks, while Kyiv played down a report that it is amending some plans for a counteroffensive due to a leak of classified US intelligence documents.
The Russians were using “scorched earth” tactics on Bakhmut, a top Ukrainian military commander said on Monday, as the Ukrainian city in the eastern Donetsk region and other cities and towns came under heavy bombardment.
“The enemy switched to so-called scorched earth tactics from Syria. It is destroying buildings and positions with air strikes and artillery fire,” Colonel General Oleksandr Syrskyi, commander of Ukraine’s ground forces, said of Bakhmut.
The battle for the small and now largely ruined city on the edge of a chunk of Russian-controlled territory in Donetsk has been the bloodiest of the 13-month war as Moscow tries to inject momentum into its campaign after recent setbacks.
Both sides have suffered heavy casualties in the Bakhmut fighting, but Syrskyi said: “The situation is difficult but controllable.”
The head of the Moscow-controlled part of Donetsk, Denis Pushilin, said Russian forces now held 75 per cent of the city, though he cautioned it was too early to talk about Bakhmut’s fall.
Moscow’s military was also targeting the city of Avdiivka.