Russian forces struck the devastated eastern Ukrainian town of Avdiyivka on Tuesday, but heavy casualties forced them to switch to airstrikes and rely less on ground operations, Ukrainian officials said. Moscow troops have confirmed the offensive to the northeast of Avdiyivka, reports the Institute for the Study of War.

Highlights of the war in Ukraine, day 609, LIVETEXT:

07:47 The Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council, Oleksiy Danilov, said that the first batch of ATACMS missiles delivered to Ukraine “exceeded expectations”, and Russian helicopter attacks as a result of these missiles have decreased, Liga and Kyiv Independent reported.

“Using the first batch exceeded all expectations. Keep in mind that after that, shelling from the point of view of helicopter operations against our troops decreased,” Danilov said. Also, a significant part of Russian helicopters fled from occupied Crimea,” the secretary added.

Ukrainian forces first used ATACMS on October 17 to strike Russian military airfields in occupied Berdyansk and Luhansk.

07:38 Russia now seems to be focusing on Avdiivka, a city known for its huge coke plant and now a landmark of the Ukrainian resistance.

“The enemy dropped about 40 guided aerial bombs in two nights. But the number of ground attacks has halved compared to yesterday and the day before yesterday. This is not surprising, because over the past five days in the territory of the Donetsk region, the enemy had about 2,400 dead and wounded,” said Oleksandr Stupun, spokesman for the Group of Forces in the South of Ukraine.

According to him, most of the dead were near Avdiivka and the town of Maryinka.

The head of the military administration of Avdiyivka, Vitaliy Barabash, noted that the city is subjected to continuous artillery and air attacks: “The enemy is constantly trying to surround the city, throwing new forces from the north and south. For two days, they operate mostly in small groups, trying to find gaps in our defenses, but without success. The line of defense is holding.”

A brief summary of recent events:

• NATO officials are urging member states to overcome their protectionist reflexes and agree on a single type of 155mm artillery shell, as Russia produces more such munitions than the alliance.
• The Kremlin on Tuesday denied recent speculation about President Vladimir Putin’s health problems, as well as suggestions that he used a body double.
• The Ukrainian special forces unit “Kraken” has published a rare video showing the Black Hornet micro-drones received from the governments of Great Britain and Norway.
• Russia has begun recruiting women for combat missions. The Important Stories portal, which claims to be one of the few Russian sources of independent investigative journalism, reported that female snipers and female drone operators have begun to be recruited into a mercenary unit under the command of the Russian Ministry of Defense.
• The Ukrainians destroyed the stationary launcher of thermobaric missiles before they could start firing.
• A computer scientist who worked for the US National Security Agency (NSA) pleaded guilty on Monday to attempted espionage for Russia, the US Department of Justice announced.
• Russia and Iran are strengthening bilateral relations in an atmosphere of “trust,” the Russian Foreign Ministry said Tuesday morning after its head, Sergei Lavrov, was received by Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi.
• Currently, more than 400,000 Russian troops are stationed on the territory of Ukraine, the spokesman of the Military Intelligence Service of Ukraine (MUR) Andriy Yusov said.

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• Tuesday’s events related to Russian aggression were broadcast LIVE on HotNews.ro