The Ukrainian military says its forces have contained an advance by Moscow's forces outside the eastern city of Avdiyivka as Russian drones carried out another attack on Odesa, the Air Force said.
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Ukrainian military spokesman Dmytro Lykhoviy said on March 4 that the fighting is especially heavy on the eastern outskirts of the village of Novomikhaylovka near Maryinka.
"At the same time, we are saying that in this hottest sector of the direct Russian assault, we are managing to stabilize the situation and the enemy's advance has been halted," Lykhoviy said.
Russian units in this area are attacking even more fiercely using small assault groups and first-person view (FPV) drones, as well as carrying out massive artillery and air strikes, Lykhoviy said.
Russian forces are focusing on an area around the village of Novomikhaylovka, where they were "transferring reinforcements from the depths of Russia," he added in comments to LIGA.net.
In Odesa, an air alert was sounded early on March 5, and air defense forces were operating in the Odesa region, the Ukrainian Air Force said.
The southern Ukrainian port city is still reeling from a Russian drone attack on March 2 that killed 12 people, including five children aged 4 months to 10 years.
Russian forces captured Avdiyivka last month in the biggest victory for Moscow in months, and Russia's Defense Ministry last week said its forces had captured new villages outside the city, but that claim could not be confirmed.
The Russian Defense Ministry said Moscow's forces had "as a result of coordinated action continued to occupy more advantageous positions" near Avdiyivka. It made no mention of the area near Novomikhaylovka.
Elsewhere in the country, Russian artillery shelling during the day on March 4 damaged a school, a kindergarten, and more than 20 apartments in the city of Seredyna-Buda in the northeastern Sumy region, the regional prosecutor-general's office said on Facebook.
The border village was hit in November by strikes that killed three people.
Meanwhile, the head of the press service of the Eastern Group of the Ukrainian military, Ilya Yevlash, said that the military is preparing to defend the village of Chasiv Yar.
Ukrainian forces are currently trying to hold territory that lies between Chasiv Yar and Bakhmut in heavy fighting, Yevlash said. But the Russian army is constantly transferring significant reserves, and its troops are advancing from different flanks, attacking Ukrainian positions head-on, he added.
Chasiv Yar itself is also under constant attack, according to Yevlash. The Russian Army is firing mortars, automatic mounted grenade launchers, and using drones and aircraft.
Outgunned Ukrainian Soldiers Along The Front Carry On Despite Shortages
Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustem Umerov said on March 4 that he and the commander in chief of Ukraine’s armed forces discussed with U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin the front-line situation and the supply of weapons.
"We are working together on providing for the needs of the Ukrainian armed forces and increasing the army's capabilities," Umerov said, adding that Colonel General Oleksandr Syrskiy had also taken part in the call.
Syrskiy said on Telegram that he and Umerov also spoke with British Defense Secretary Grant Shapps and the chief of Britain's Defense Staff, Sir Tony Radakin.
Syrskiy said the discussions focused on the needs of the Ukrainian military and the development of Ukraine's naval capabilities with help from Kyiv's allies.