Kiev, 16 July 2022 (dpa/MIA) - Russian forces have stepped up attacks in the east of Ukraine again after regrouping their forces. Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu ordered the expansion of attacks during an inspection of units involved in the invasion of Ukraine. "After hearing [the situation report], the head of the Russian Defence Ministry has given the necessary instructions to expand the activities of the army groups in all directions of attack in order to deprive the Kiev regime of the opportunity to continue conducting massive artillery and missile attacks on infrastructure and civilians in the Donbass and other regions," the ministry announced on Saturday. The general staff in Kiev said in its situation report that Ukraine has repelled Russian assault attempts in the direction of Bakhmut and near Donetsk in the past 24 hours. "After regrouping, the enemy has resumed the assault on the Vuhlehirsk thermal power plant, and fighting continues," it also said. Military experts from the US-based Institute for the Study of War (ISW) have also observed that Russian troops are ending the breather they took after capturing the twin cities of Severodonetsk and Lysychansk. At the moment, the fighting is still small-scale. "If the operational pause is truly over, the Russians will likely continue and expand such assaults in the coming 72 hours," the ISW analysis says. Russia has been waging war in Ukraine for nearly five months. After initial failures in the north of the country as it targeted the capital Kiev, Russian troops have made gains in the eastern Donbass area through massive artillery deployment. However, the use of rocket launchers sent from Western allies have allowed the Ukrainian side to inflict some setbacks on the Russians. To counteract this, the United States believes Russia wants to acquire Iranian combat drones. The US has information that a Russian delegation visited an Iranian airport for a demonstration of attack-capable drones, a senior US government official said on the sidelines of US President Joe Biden's visit to Saudi Arabia. Russia has also repeatedly made false claims about alleged successes in its invasion of Ukraine, according to British intelligence experts. The scope and scale of Russian advances remain limited, the daily intelligence update on the Ukraine war from the Ministry of Defence in London said. It added the Russian claims a few days ago that they had advanced into the town of Siversk were not true. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky meanwhile has said Russian society will be damaged for decades in the face of the war against his country. Ukraine will preserve "humanity and civilization," Zelensky said in his video address late Friday. Destroyed educational institutions would also be rebuilt, he promised. "But Russian society, with so many murderers and executioners, will remain crippled for generations - and through its own fault."