Russian forces have escalated attacks near Toretsk, a frontline town in eastern Ukraine that has remained relatively calm over recent months of fighting, officials and AFP journalists reported Wednesday.
Overwhelmed and outgunned Ukrainian forces have struggled to hold the line in the eastern Donetsk region, which the Kremlin claims is part of Russia.
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The Ukrainian military said in a briefing late Tuesday that Russia had "intensified" its assaults near Toretsk and "launched five assault operations at once", targeting surrounding towns and villages.
Military analysts reported Russian advances towards Toretsk, which had an estimated pre-war population of around 32,000 people.
The Russian defence ministry on Wednesday also said its forces had "improved" their positions around Toretsk.
Moscow's troops in recent months have swung the battlefield initiative in their favour and advanced north and south of Toretsk, but the front line has remained relatively stable near the mining town.
The Ukrainian military said the rise in Russian attacks had begun "after a prolonged lull".
- 'Shooting... all day long' -
One resident of the town, 67-year-old Oleksandr told AFP journalists by telephone that he had experienced an increase in Russian bombardments, corroborating official reports.
"They started shooting in the morning and it was going on all day long," he told AFP, adding that residents had been taking shelter in basements.
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Residents were staying near the entrances to buildings to gauge the worsening fighting and "so that if anything happens, they can jump inside", he said, adding that a Russian projectile had landed near his home earlier Wednesday.
The head of the region Vadym Filashkin announced Wednesday morning that Russian fire near the town of Pokrovsk further south had killed one person and wounded another over the last 24 hours.
He also said 21 residential buildings had been damaged near Toretsk, nearly double that from a day earlier.
Russian forces have also been advancing towards Chasiv Yar, a strategic hilltop town further north of Toretsk whose capture would likely accelerate Russian gains towards large civilian hubs in Donetsk.
Units from Ukraine's 225th Separate Assault Battalion deployed near Chasiv Yar published drone footage on Wednesday taken over the city, showing the rows of destroyed or smouldering Soviet era housing blocks.
"Every day, fierce battles are fought for the city. Wave after wave, the occupiers try to break through our defence," describing Russia's military strategy as "methodical scorched earth tactics".
The Kremlin said it had annexed Donetsk along with three other partially occupied Ukrainian regions in late 2022, several months after launching its full-scale invasion.
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