Ukraine’s Emergency Situations Department has reported that a Russian missile attack has killed 13 people, including an eight-month-old baby, in the city of Zaporizhia. The attack destroyed a five-story apartment building and has left seven people hospitalized, two of them in serious condition. Missile attacks on the city are constant, mostly hitting civilian buildings of no military value.
Meanwhile, the most protracted battle of the war in Ukraine continues in the town of Bajmut in the eastern Donbas region. Russian artillery continues to attack the last access routes to the town, which is practically besieged by Kremlin troops. The Ukrainian defense minister has stated that Russia is losing about 500 soldiers a day in Bakhmut, and although he has not provided details on Ukrainian casualties, they are believed to be significant. The Ukrainian president has acknowledged that the situation in Bakhmut is increasingly complicated and the destruction in the city is enormous.
The head of Wagner’s Russian paramilitary has called on Kiev to abandon the town because it is practically surrounded. His militia is leading the fighting in Bakhmut, but according to a Ukrainian military analyst consulted by Reuters, there are no signs that a Ukrainian withdrawal is imminent. British military intelligence has reported that Russia has increased hand-to-hand fighting, probably due to ammunition shortages among its troops. At one particular point on the front, soldiers mobilized by the Kremlin have reportedly been forced to attack with guns and shovels. One reservist complained that they were neither physically nor psychologically prepared to undertake such an attack.
In short, the war in Ukraine continues, and the situation in both Zaporizhia and Bakhmut is worrisome. Attacks on civilians and the lack of ammunition among Russian troops are worrying signs of a war that seems to have no end.