Ukraine says the casualty toll in a Russian missile strike that hit a postal distribution center in Kharkiv has risen to 23, including six dead, prompting vows of reprisal from President Volodymyr Zelenskiy.
Regional Governor Oleh Synehubov said on October 22 that the six dead from the attack on October 21 were all workers at the Nova Poshta depot, located in the village of Korotych on the outskirts of Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city.
The Kharkiv Regional Prosecutor's Office confirmed the totals.
Synehubov added that “doctors are fighting for the lives” of seven of the wounded, who were aged between 19 and 42.
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"We will definitely respond to every manifestation of Russia's terror. And to this blow as well," Zelenskiy said in his nightly address to Ukrainians.
While Russia continues to pound different regions with air strikes and artillery, the heaviest fighting continues in the eastern Donetsk region, where Russian forces are launching offensives on Avdiyivka, just 15 kilometers north of the Russian-occupied city of Donetsk, the largest military operation that Moscow has staged in months.
Avdiyivka had a prewar population of around 30,000 people, but it is estimated that only 1,600 still remain in the devastated city.
"Numerous Russian attacks. But our positions are protected," said Zelenskiy, who spoke to the emir of Qatar earlier on October 22.
The Institute for the Study of War (ISW) said in a report dated October 20 that while making only “marginal gains,” the Russian military command “remains committed to offensive operations in the area despite heavy material and personnel losses.”
“The initial Russian offensive operations in the Avdiyivka area on October 10 also resulted in high verified Russian equipment losses, and the fact that Russian forces regrouped and re-launched assaults after the initial attacks suggests that either Russian forces believe they can feasibly take Avdiyivka, or that the Russian military command is poorly prioritizing offensive operations regardless of cost,” the ISW said.
Now in its 20th month, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is approaching its second winter and is expected to shift again into a new phase with no clear indication that either side has the upper hand., analysts say.