The Ukrainian military said today (Saturday) that on the anniversary of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, massive Russian attacks were carried out along all the front lines, including in Hamut and multiple areas in the Kharkiv region. The General Staff in Ukraine reported that the Russians carried out at least 27 airstrikes, 75 rocket launches in addition to heavy artillery barrages.
In the meantime, fierce battles took place around the city of Hammot in the center of the country. The Ukrainians stated that “the enemy continues to attack the positions of our soldiers, and carried out several unsuccessful attacks near several settlements”, but “they shelled more than a dozen places around the city of Hamot”.
A popular Russian military blogger, who goes by the name WarGonzo, said that the “Wagner Force” mercenary militia “attacked in several directions at once” in the vicinity of Bakhmut, and claimed that there had been some Russian progress toward the east of the city. He repeated the militia’s claim that it controls Barifka, a village located north-west of Hamot.
As mentioned, last night marked the anniversary of the war in Ukraine. At least eight people were arrested in the city of Yekaterinburg in the Ural Mountains in Russia, and nine were arrested in St. Petersburg, this after demonstrating against the prolonged fighting, according to reports in “OVD-Info”, a Russian human rights group that monitors arrests of dissidents and activists. Yekaterinburg is the fourth largest city in Russia. In addition, one of the few remaining independent media outlets in Russia reported that in St. Petersburg, the second largest city, seven people were detained by the authorities after laying flowers next to the monument to Ukrainian poet Taras Shevchenko. Protests as a sign of solidarity were also held in the cities of Rostov-on-Don, Magnitogorsk and Vladivostok.