Dozens of fresh airstrikes have hit cities along the southern and eastern front of the war in Ukraine where troops continue to hold firm more than a year on.
As the first anniversary of Vladimir Putin’s invasion passed it was feared there could be an attack on the capital Kyiv to boost his faltering campaign.
But as the streets remained quiet last night, one local security source told the Mirror: “Putin rarely does what you expect him to do so maybe he will wait – or maybe the Russians are running out, as we have long suspected, of missiles. They keep getting shot down by our defences.”
In and around Kyiv, resistance to Russian tyranny is holding fast and morale remains fiercely upbeat.
A stunning mural painted on a wall near the city’s Maidan Square says: “Be Brave Like Ukraine.”
Such defiance is also clear in embattled Avdiivka in the Donbas region, where Ukrainian paratroopers continue to hold the line. Sources yesterday told the Mirror fighters are even pushing back Russian forces in attacks across the city.
Russia’s “cannon-fodder” mobilised regiment 1439, currently near Avdiivka, has reportedly begged Putin for more back-up. Reports claim the despot’s fighters have sent a message complaining they have been sent into battle without artillery, reconnaissance or communications support.
And yesterday Ukraine’s 110th Brigade shot down an SU-25 Russian warplane which was trying to attack a Ukrainian position near Avdiivka, military sources claimed.
The warplane was brought down with a man portable air defence system and the Russian pilot captured. It is believed the plane had been behind two missile attacks on a huge industrial site in the eastern Donetsk province.
Five civilians were said to have been wounded in Donetsk, where territory is roughly split between Russian and Ukrainian control.
Fierce battles are being fought around the province’s city of Bakhmut, where it is believed Russia is concentrating its artillery batteries.
Russian forces were said to be trying to break through Ukrainian defences to encircle and seize the city.
Yevgeny Prigozhin, head of Russia’s mercenary Wagner Group, claimed on Saturday that his fighters have “completely taken over” the village of Yahidne, outside Bakhmut.
The southern Kherson region also reported 83 Russian shelling attacks, its capital Kherson hit nine times.
In the Donbas city of Zaporizhzhia up to 120 Russian troops were killed as they probed Ukrainian positions.
A major Russian offensive in Ukraine’s industrial east and north-east is faltering through ill-discipline and lack of equipment.
Yesterday Ukraine’s Prosecutor General reported that the Russian military has committed at least 72,000 recorded war-crimes since the invasion began on February 24 last year.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is calling for global pressure on Russia with even bigger sanctions.
He told his people: “Is it possible for us to win? Yes.
“We are capable of this in unity, resolutely and unyieldingly, to put an end to Russian aggression this year.”
