Ukraine says its forces have repelled dozens of attacks as the invading Russian military pressed on with its offensive in the eastern Donetsk region with air strikes and artillery attacks.
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"Despite numerous losses in equipment and manpower, the enemy…continues to focus its main efforts on conducting offensive operations in the Lyman, Bakhmut, Avdiyivka, and Maryinka areas,” Ukraine's General Staff said on April 11 in a statement.
Ukrainian forces repelled 52 attacks over the past day, it added.
The fighting remains intense as U.S. officials assess the damage from a leak of classified documents that included some on Ukraine's plans for a counteroffensive in the east.
The Russian military has for months pressed to take control of Bakhmut, where the battle for the city has turned into one of the bloodiest since Moscow invaded Ukraine in February 2022, while serving as a symbol of Kyiv’s defiance. Both sides have suffered heavy casualties in the small and now largely destroyed city.
Oleksandr Syrskiy, commander of Ukraine's ground forces, said the situation in Bakhmut remains "difficult but controllable."
Syrskiy accused Russia of using the same “scorched earth tactics” in Bakhmut that it used in military operations against anti-government rebels in Syria in support of the regime in Damascus.
“It is destroying buildings and positions with air strikes and artillery fire," Syrskiy said, adding that Russia was sending in special forces and airborne units to Bakhmut as members of Russia's notorious private mercenary Wagner group that have led the Bakhmut operation were exhausted.
Russian air strikes were also targeting the city of Avdiyivka, turning it “into total ruins," according to Pavlo Kyrylenko, Donetsk's regional governor.
'Road Of Life' Between Bakhmut and Chasiv Yar Remains Open, But Under Fire
"In total, around 1,800 people remain in Avdiyivka, all of whom risk their lives every day," Kyrylenko said.
The battleground accounts cannot be independently verified.
Taking control of Bakhmut could allow Russia to directly target Ukrainian defensive lines in the town of Chasiv Yar and open the way for the Russian military to advance on two bigger cities in the Donetsk region -- Kramatorsk and Slovyansk.
Donetsk is one of four provinces in eastern and southern Ukraine that Moscow illegally declared annexed in September 2022 and is seeking to fully occupy. The other three regions are Kherson, Luhansk, and Zaporizhzhya.
In Washington, the Pentagon said the Justice Department has been called in to investigate whether the leak of a handful of documents dated from February 23 to March 1 was a criminal offense. The documents appeared on social media last week.
The documents reportedly also include information about Ukraine’s use of munitions for U.S.-provided High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS) and other advanced weaponry, and about U.S. spy operations in allied countries such as South Korea and Israel.