According to Ukrainian Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko, Russia shelled 118 Ukrainian towns and villages in a 24-hour period—more than it has done on any other day this year.
He claimed that attacks had occurred in 10 of the 27 regions of Ukraine, resulting in fatalities and injuries.
In the east and south, many of the affected communities were close to the front lines.
For several weeks, the majority of Russia’s military force has been directed towards the strategically important town of Avdiivka, located in the eastern part of Donetsk.
“Avdiivka is being destroyed and erased. Over 40 significant shelling attacks targeting the territorial community have occurred in the last 24 hours, according to local leader Vitaliy Barabash.
He reported that two civilians had died and issued a warning that Russia was preparing for a third round of its attack. Russia, according to Ukraine, has been sending reinforcements into the region in an attempt to surround and take the town.
The general staff of Ukraine’s armed forces reported on Tuesday that twenty strikes in the Avdiivka region alone were repulsed.
Additionally, Russia has increased its attacks on the town of Kupyansk in the northeastern district of Kharkiv, aiming to prevent Ukrainian forces from regaining control of the area surrounding Bakhmut.
Away from the front lines, there were additional strikes in Kremenchuk, when a Russian drone set fire to an abandoned oil refinery, and in Nikopol, a city in southern Ukraine, on a block of apartments, stores, and a pharmacy.
The refinery, located in the Poltava district in the center, has been the subject of multiple attacks by Russia, according to officials, who added that attacks continued until the early hours of Wednesday.
A few weeks into the full-scale invasion, Russian shelling rendered the largest refinery in Ukraine, the Kremenchuk, inoperable.
There are concerns that the West is growing weary of the war in Ukraine since the counteroffensive has not made much progress in regaining territory that Russian soldiers have taken over in the east and south.
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky has acknowledged the sluggish pace and has urged Kyiv’s allies to maintain their unity and send more advanced weapons immediately.
Zaluzhny, the chief military commander of Ukraine, issued a warning on Wednesday, stating that the battle has now entered a “positional” or static phase.
He said that Moscow will gain from this by “allowing it to rebuild its military power” in an Economist essay.
Mr. Zaluzhny warned that even with significant casualties, Russia still possessed “superiority in weapons, equipment, missiles and ammunition” and urged Ukraine’s partners to send in drones and warplanes along with cutting-edge mine-breaching and electronic warfare gear.
Giorgia Meloni, the prime minister of Italy and a close ally of the Ukrainian leader, brought up the subject of tiredness in response to a phone call spoofing two Russian pranksters who are well-known for going after opponents of the Kremlin.
She can be heard saying to Vovan and Lexus, “I see there is a lot of fatigue, if I have to say the truth, from all the sides,” “We’re near the moment in which everybody understands that we need a way out.”
Perhaps the Ukrainian counteroffensive is not progressing as planned. Although it is proceeding, the conflict’s outcome has not changed.”
The administration of US President Joe Biden has requested approval from Congress for a $106 billion package intended for Israel and Ukraine. “I can guarantee that [Russia’s Vladimir] Putin will be successful without our support,” US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin issued a warning this week.
In a nocturnal speech on Tuesday, President Volodymyr Zelensky informed the people of Ukraine that “we live in a world that gets used to success too quickly”.
He saved special commendation for the military’s accomplishment in weakening Russia’s hold on the Black water, saying, “The more protection we have in our sea and along our coastline, the more protection there is in the world.”
Following recent attacks by Ukraine on Russia’s Black Sea force headquarters, the majority of its ships withdrew from seized Crimea.
Kiev has made an effort to establish a secure export route that would allow private boats to transport grain from Ukraine’s Black Sea coast across Romanian seas and onto the Turkish shore.
Warplanes dropped “explosive objects” on the projected trajectories of civilian ships, according to Ukrainian officials, despite the fact that at least 700,000 metric tonnes of grain have escaped Russian shelling in recent months. Ukraine’s southern operational headquarters stated, “Nevertheless, the navigational corridor continues to function under the aegis of the defense forces.”
Despite NATO providing Ukraine with additional weapons, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu stated on Wednesday that Ukraine was losing the battle.
He claimed that “demoralization of personnel is growing” and that Ukraine was suffering significant losses in its attempts to advance into Russian-held Donetsk, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia. He added that Russian forces were moving forward.
Mr. Shoigu offered no proof for any of his assertions.
In February 2022, Russian President Vladimir Putin initiated a full-scale invasion of Ukraine.