Ukrainian forces repelled dozens of Russian attacks in the eastern region of Donetsk over the past day, the military said on April 1, as British intelligence suggested that Russia's monthslong winter offensive in the east is beginning to show signs of failure amid a high rate of attrition.
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Besides the city of Bakhmut, the focal point of Moscow's offensive in the east for the past several months, the General staff of Ukraine's military said in its regular daily update that Russian forces have now widened their assault on the towns of Avdiyivka and Maryinka in the Donetsk region and on Bilohorivka in the Luhansk region.
A total of 70 attacks were recorded over the past 24 hours on the four locations, where heavy fighting has been under way, the military said.
Six Iranian-made Shahed drones were downed by Ukraine's air defenses, the military said.
Amid the protracted battle for Bakhmut, Britain's Defense Ministry said in its daily intelligence update on April 1 that 80 days into a renewed offensive in the east under the direct command of the Russia's chief of General Staff, Vasily Gerasimov, Moscow's effort to extend its control over the whole Donbas region has failed.
"On several axes across the Donbas front, Russian forces have made only marginal gains at the cost of tens of thousands of casualties, largely squandering its temporary advantage in personnel gained from the autumn’s ‘partial mobilization,’" British intelligence said.
As Ukraine marked on March 31 one year since Russian forces withdrew from Bucha, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy used the anniversary to warn those Russian soldiers suspected of perpetrating the massacre of hundreds of civilians in the commuter town near Kyiv, where hundreds of bodies of murdered civilians were left on the streets, that they are going to be brought to justice eventually.
Ukrainian officials estimate that about 400 bodies of civilians were found in Bucha and a total of more than 1,000 throughout the region around Kyiv in what Ukraine has said amounted to a Russian war crime.
"The key word today is justice. Justice...for all our people who lost relatives, loved ones, health, home, [and] normal life due to Russian aggression, due to the terror of the occupier," Zelenskiy said in his evening video message.
"Russian executioners and murderers will receive fair sentences. One hundred percent," Zelenskiy said.
He added that talks with international officials were aimed at speeding up the process of creating a tribunal on Russian aggression.
Ukrainian and international investigators have opened a probe into war crimes in Bucha, Irpin, and other locations in Ukraine where apparent massacres occurred.
Russia has denied committing the massacres and claimed that the deaths were "staged" by Ukraine.
Ukraine Remembers The Victims Of Bucha, One Year After Liberation
Earlier in the day, Zelenskiy presided over an official outdoor ceremony in Bucha that was also attended by Moldovan President Maia Sandu and the prime ministers of EU and NATO members Croatia, Slovakia, and Slovenia -- Eduard Geger, Robert Golob, and Andrej Plenkovich.
In a video message, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the United States "will continue pushing for accountability and for justice for as long as it takes."
EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said the bloc is assisting Ukraine to investigate crimes.
Meanwhile, three U.S. officials familiar with the issue told Reuters on March 31 that the United States could announce a new $2.6 billion military aid package for Ukraine next week that could include aerial surveillance radars, anti-tank missiles and fuel tankers.