Ukrainian Forces Hold Bakhmut As Russian Strikes In Kherson Injure Civilians

A Ukrainian soldier scouts for enemy positions from a trench in Ukraine's east. (file photo)

Ukrainian and Russian forces battled on April 6 in the eastern city of Bakhmut, while in the Kherson region Russian strikes injured seven people.

According to Oleksandr Prokudin, the Kherson region’s military governor, Russian troops are attacking the Kherson region with guided aerial bombs.

“Currently, it is known [that] seven residents of the Kherson region…were injured as a result of an enemy attack,” Prokudin said on Telegram.

Kherson was liberated by Ukrainian forces in November, but Kyiv says Russian forces continue to shell the city and the region from across the Dnieper River.

Prokudin added that six people were injured as a result of strikes on Zmiyiivka and one person was wounded in the village of Kozatskiy. In the evening, three strikes by enemy aircraft were recorded in Berislav, two in Novoberislav, and one in Kozatskiy.

Detailed information about the victims and the extent of damage caused is being clarified, he said.

The monthslong battle for Bakhmut in the eastern Donetsk region has turned into one of the bloodiest of Russia's invasion, while serving as a symbol of Kyiv’s defiance.

The Battle For Bakhmut: The Bloodiest Infantry Brawl Since World War II

“[Battles] are under way in the streets, enemy attempts to encircle the city are failing. Our command fully controls the situation," said Andriy Yermak, a senior adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy.

The leader of Russia's private Wagner militia, Yevgeny Prigozhin, said fighting was continuing in the west of the city.

"It must be said clearly that the enemy is not going anywhere," he said on his Telegram channel. Even if Ukrainian forces did start to abandon the city, he said he would need more support from the regular Russian military before trying to advance.

TASS reported that four civilians died in Russian-controlled Donetsk when shells hit a fleet of vehicles. Six people were injured, the news agency added. Other Russian media reports said the attack was carried out with U.S.-supplied High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS).

The RIA news agency said three people died in blasts at a bus stop in Lysychansk, to the northeast of Donetsk.

Denis Pushilin, the administrator of Russian-controlled parts of Donetsk Province, said on Russian TV that Ukrainian forces were seeking to relocate to the city of Avdiyivka near Donetsk, adding that Russian forces were advancing through Avdiyivka “as we speak.”

None of the battlefield claims could be independently verified.

With reporting by Reuters and dpa