Ukrainian authorities on Tuesday said there had been heavy casualties in Russian missile strikes far from the front lines, but in reality, Russia’s efforts to advance had been repulsed.
In the Chernihiv region north of Kyiv, Vyacheslav Chaus, head of the military agency, said the Russians “fired missiles at the village of Desna this morning. There have been deaths and many injuries.”
Not sure what the goal is. Chaus did not give further details. Desna is about 40 miles (about 64 km) from the border with Belarus.
Russian artillery and missile attacks have increased in some border areas recently as Ukraine’s counter-offensive in the northeast is gaining momentum.
In the northeastern region of Sumy, Ukraine’s General Staff on Tuesday said Russia had shelled across the border.
Dmytro Zhyvytskyy, head of the military service of the Sumy region, said Russian reconnaissance and sabotage groups tried to cross the border. “There was a very serious battle. Mortars, grenade launchers, small arms were used,” he said.
Russian officials also reported exchanges in the region. Roman Starovoit, governor of Russia’s Kursk region, said that at dawn on Tuesday, large weapons were fired at a border village and several houses were damaged. He said there were no casualties and Ukrainian border guards returned fire.
Along the front lines in Luhansk and Donetsk, Ukraine said Russian forces continued their offensive efforts in some areas but all claims were pushed back. The General Staff said that in the heavily contested area around Severodonetsk, Russian troops attacked the town of Syrotne but “lost in the fighting and withdrew.”
But artillery fire and air raids continued.
The head of the Luhansk military junta, Serhii Hayday, said the Russians hit two hospital buildings and a production facility in Severodonetsk, as well as air strikes in the Popasna region. In total, he said, 10 civilians were killed in the most recent shelling.
Hayday said the main hospital in Severodonetsk was hit again, while air strikes on villages further west destroyed some houses. Video from the area shows large craters among heavily damaged homes.
Russian casualties: Vadym Denysenko, an adviser at Ukraine’s Interior Ministry, told Ukrainian television on Tuesday that “the enemy’s losses are numerous.”
“The main events are currently taking place around Severodonetsk. The enemy is trying to make an active siege,” he said.
He also said overnight missile attacks in the far west of Ukraine hit a district near Lviv, but did not provide further details.
