Ukraine war: Battle for Bakhmut continues; Russia keeps shelling Kherson: Kyiv makes military plans
Russian forces fired 33 rockets at civilian targets in the Ukrainian city of Kherson in the 24 hours leading up to early Wednesday, Ukraine's military said.
The General Staff of Ukraine's Armed Forces said in its morning report that Russian forces were attacking populated areas on the right bank of the Dnipro river near Kherson with mortars and artillery.
Russian forces abandoned Kherson last month in one of Ukraine's most significant gains in the 11-month war, but fighting has entered a slow, grinding phase as bitter winter weather has set in.
"There has been very little change in terms of the front line but pressure from the enemy has intensified, both in terms of the numbers of men and the type and quantity of equipment," said Ukrainian military analyst Oleh Zhdanov.
The heaviest fighting has been around the eastern city of Bakhmut, a bombed-out ghost town, which Russia has been trying for months to storm at a huge cost in lives, and further north in the cities of Svatove and Kreminna, where Ukraine is trying to break Russian defensive lines.
In Bakhmut, home to 70,000 people before the war and now in ruins, Reuters reporters saw fires burning in a large residential building. Debris littered the streets, and the windows of most buildings were blown out.
"Our building is destroyed. There was a shop in our building, now it's not there anymore," said Oleksandr, 85, adding he was the only remaining resident there.
Nearby, 73-year-old Pilaheia said she had long gotten used to the "constant explosions".
Russian President Vladimir Putin launched his full-scale invasion of Ukraine on 24 February.
Russia set out to subdue Ukraine within days, but its forces were defeated on the outskirts of the capital, Kyiv, in the spring and
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