Kiev, 7 July 2024 (dpa/MIA) - Heavy fighting continues in eastern Ukraine, the country's military leadership said in Kiev on Saturday evening, with fighting ongoing at 12 sites.

"The situation was hottest today in the Pokrovsk area, but the enemy was also active in the direction of Lyman and Kurakhove," the Ukrainian General Staff said in an evening situation report.

All three cities are located in the eastern Ukrainian region of Donetsk. Over the course of the day, there were 123 battles, the report said.

Of those, 41 were in the Pokrovsk region alone, and there were 19 and 17 attacks near Lyman and Kurakhove respectively, the report said.

According to the General Staff, 29 attacks near Pokrovsk have now been repelled, but 12 battles are still ongoing, with the defenders doing everything they can to stabilize the situation and prevent the enemy from advancing deep into Ukrainian territory.

Earlier in the day, the Russian Defence Ministry reported the village of Sokil had been captured in this area. Sokil no longer appears in the General Staff's situation report, but the village of Prohres to the west of it does.

The Ukrainian military said more than 180 Russian soldiers were killed in the Pokrovsk area. In addition, several Russian military vehicles were destroyed. The information cannot be verified independently.

The section of the front near Pokrovsk is seen as comparatively vulnerable. Russian troops have been advancing slowly for months, after taking the fortress of Avdiivka at the beginning of the year. Ukraine has not managed yet to halt the advance and stabilize its defence lines.

Russian forces seize another Donetsk village

Earlier, Russian forces seized another village in the Donetsk region in eastern Ukraine, the Defence Ministry said in Moscow.

The Russian Army Group Centre took Sokil, a village lying some 30 kilometres north-west of Donetsk city, improving its tactical position, the report said. There was no immediate comment from the Ukrainian side.

The village, which had a population of a couple of dozen in a census taken 20 years ago, lies to the east of Pokrovsk, which is seen as a possible target of the Russian advance.

Tit-for-tat drone attacks during the night

In overnight drone attacks, Russia disrupted electricity and water supplies in Ukraine's north-eastern Sumy region. The Ukrainian Air Force said Russia had attacked 12 Ukrainian regions, with 24 of 32 drones shot down.

In Kiev a residence and a vehicle were damaged by falling debris from an intercepted drone.

Ukrainian forces used drones to attack the southern Russian region of Krasnodar, which has become a frequent target for Ukraine.

The drones were shot down, but their debris set fire to fuel depots in the Pavlovskaya and Leningradskaya districts and damaged a radio tower in the town of Yeysk, the regional crisis team said in a statement.

In recent months, Kiev has hit not only military targets but also fuel storage facilities and transport hubs to increase Russia's logistical challenges in waging its war.

Ukraine has been defending itself against a full-scale Russian invasion since it was ordered by President Vladimir Putin more than two years ago.

There is currently no end to the war in sight. Among other things, Putin wants Ukraine to completely relinquish the territories of Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson, Zaporizhzhya and Crimea as a condition for an end to the fighting.

Kiev meanwhile insists on Russia's complete withdrawal from all occupied territories, including the Black Sea peninsula of Crimea, illegally annexed by Moscow in 2014.

Putin reiterated again on Thursday that he would never declare a ceasefire in Ukraine without Kiev meeting his preconditions.

Photo: EPA