Bahmut, the hottest point of the front. Intense fighting between Kiev’s troops and Putin’s private army

In Ukraine, Russian missiles and drones mainly target critical infrastructure. More than a third of the power stations were destroyed.

“Moscow wants to cause a new wave of refugees and a humanitarian catastrophe,” accuse officials from Kyiv, who are quickly demanding anti-aircraft defense systems.

At the same time, Kiev’s forces are continuing their offensive in the Kherson region, where the Russians appear to have already hastily begun evacuation operations to the east bank of the Dnieper.

In the Kherson region, the situation is increasingly difficult for the Russian units left isolated on the western side of the Dnieper River. Local authorities asked the population to leave the area, and information began to appear on social networks that the Russians were leaving the settlements occupied since the beginning of the war.

Tens of thousands of people, most of them ethnic Russians, have already crossed by boat or on pontoon bridges to the other side of the Dnieper as the Ukrainian army advances towards Kherson.

Belozerka resident: “I resisted until the last moment. You see, we are from the region, this is Belozerka district, now it is dangerous and very noisy there. There’s no point in staying there, basically nothing works.”

Russia continues to attack the infrastructure of Ukrainian cities with kamikaze missiles and drones. However, many projectiles fall in residential areas, and the locals spend their nights without electricity. People say they prefer that to having the Russians in town.

Andrii Pidobid, taxi driver: “Before we were under occupation, it was cold at that time and we were hiding in cellars, we couldn’t stay in apartments. So now it’s not really pleasant, but what can we do?”.

Fierce fighting in the region of Bahmut city

The only front where the Russians are trying to advance by land is in the east, in the region of the city of Bahmut, where the Wagner paramilitary units are fighting.

The region looks like a World War I battlefield, but the Ukrainians are resisting Russian assaults and even gaining ground. Yuri was a carpenter before the war. He is now a unit commander: “Here in Bahmut is the hottest spot on the front. 24 hours a day there are attacks on our positions“.

The bunker also serves as a shelter and a bedroom, in the rare moments of calm.

The Ukrainians use ordinary drones to which they attach explosives and drop them towards enemy positions. But the Russians also respond the same way.

In a locality in the area, the invaders’ bombing destroyed almost everything.

More and more mobilized Russians are killed in Ukraine

More and more coffins are arriving in Russia with the bodies of soldiers mobilized and killed on the front in Ukraine. According to the family, Nikita was drafted into the army at the end of September and died a week later. “On September 26 he was mobilized. On October 4, he was in Ukraine. They were sent there as cannon fodder“, said one of his relatives.

Maria Martynova, friend of Perlin’s family: “Then, a few days later, a letter came announcing that he had died. A few hours later, the military commissar came and told them that it was a mistake, that he was not Polina’s husband and that they were looking for him further. A week later they called again and said it was indeed her husband.”

In some regions behind the front, the Russians began to build lines of fortifications. One of them stretches for about 2 kilometers, near a strategically important city in eastern Ukraine. These are the so-called “dragon’s fangs” – rows of pyramid-shaped concrete fortifications. Thus, the Russians hope that they could stop Ukrainian tanks and armored vehicles in the event of a new offensive to the east.