The situation remains “difficult” in Donbass, according to President Zelensky – rts.ch

Particularly heavy fighting is taking place in the Donbass region (eastern Ukraine), on which Moscow is focusing without making much progress.

“There is heavy fighting on the border with the Donetsk region, near Popasna,” Sergey Gawdych, the Ukrainian governor of the Lugansk region, commented on Facebook Friday evening, reporting numerous losses of equipment and personnel on the Russian side.

A US defense official, speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed that the most important Russian activity is currently taking place in Donbass. “And basically we still see that the Russians don’t have much control” in this area, he said.

The Russians returned to Kharkiv

It seems that the situation has already been reversed in Kharkiv, but it is one of the priority goals for the Russians.

“The gradual liberation of the Kharkiv region proves that we will not leave anyone to the enemy,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Friday evening in his daily message, declaring that the restoration of lands that fell into the hands of Russia is continuing.

“As of today, 1,015 towns have been liberated, six more in the past 24 hours,” he said.

He said that water, electricity, communications, transportation and public services have been restored there, and he is confident to remember the cities and lands still under Russian occupation.

Destroyed Russian tank filmed in the Kharkiv region. [Vitalii Hnidyi – reuters]