A month later, in which the situation in front of her Ukrainian been more or less stagnant, the sharp escalation of the conflict in recent days portends that the coming days and weeks will be decisive in the course of the war.

OUR Russian army launched coordinated infantry, artillery and air strikes against the eastern province yesterday Donetskwhich, together with the neighboring Luhansk region, form its industrial region Donbass, the central target of the Russian invasion. The city of Donetsk has been under Russian control since 2014, but lies on the demarcation line and is under constant threat from Ukrainians.

The immediate goal of the Russian army’s stubborn advance is to capture the cities closest to Donetsk in order to facilitate the planned assault on the three main cities in the region still controlled by the Ukrainians – Slavyansk, Kramatorsk and Bakhmut. The region’s Ukrainian governor, Pavel Kirilenko, said yesterday that the attackers were unable to advance their positions until last night. According to the adviser to the President of Ukraine Oleksiy Arestovich, the troops of his country have strengthened their positions on his front. Kharkiv and advanced on Izyum, threatening to surround the Russians.

The picture painted by the Russian side was different. Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov reported that his men had taken over a factory on the outskirts of the city of Solentar, and the Russian-speaking separatist leadership said their forces were clearing the last pockets of resistance in the heavily armored village of Piski. According to British military intelligence, the only major advance of Russian troops in the last month was their advance of 30 kilometers in the Bakhmut area. The same agency reported that over the weekend, the Russians transferred forces from the eastern front to the southern, where a counterattack by the Ukrainian army is expected to recapture Kherson.

International concern about the fire around the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant and the explosion in the Crimea.

A sensation yesterday was caused by the news of a series of explosions at a Russian air base in the Novofedorovsky district of Crimea, which has so far remained outside the conflict. The Russian Defense Ministry stated that it was not an attack from outside, but an explosive detonation. According to the head of the Crimean administration, Sergei Aksyonov, one person died as a result of the explosion. Earlier, the head of the Crimean Ministry of Health said that five people, including a child, were injured in the explosion.

“suicidal” behavior

Meanwhile, tensions remain high over the Russian-held Zaporozhye nuclear power plant, one of Europe’s largest, after a firefight between warring factions in the region over the weekend sparked international concern. UN Secretary-General António Guterres stressed that any attack on a nuclear power plant would be a “suicidal” act.