According to the Ministry of Defense, due to a lack of precision rockets, Russia is launching massive missiles from the Cold War designed to destroy aircraft carriers toward Ukrainian forces in the Donbas.

The five-and-a-half-ton missiles were designed to carry a nuclear payload; therefore, their use as conventional missiles is causing tremendous collateral damage.

"When employed in a ground attack role with a conventional warhead they are highly inaccurate and can therefore cause significant collateral damage and civilian casualties," the Ministry of Defense stated.

Since withdrawing from the area around Kyiv in March, the Russian army has focused on seizing the eastern Ukrainian Donbas region.

Severodonetsk is the largest uncontrolled city in Luhansk, which comprises half of the Donbas and is the epicenter of the heaviest combat.

Combat on the front lines in the Donbas

Russia's artillery and air force had demolished the city despite the resistance of Ukrainian troops.

The Ministry of Defense reported that there is now "intense street to street fighting" and that "both sides are likely suffering high casualties."

In an interview with Ukrainian media, the governor of Luhansk, Serhiy Haidai, stated that Russia is just outgunning Ukraine.

"The only issue in Ukraine is a deficiency in long-range artillery. If we had sufficient artillery and ammunition, we would repel the enemy's guns, and I can guarantee that our forces would entirely clear the city within two days "he stated.

According to Russian sources, 400 Ukrainian military and several hundred civilians are sheltering at the city's Azot fertilizer production factory.

Some Ukrainian officials have expressed concern that Azot could become another Azovstal - the Mariupol steelworks that was the focus of a weeks-long siege.

According to the Institute for the Study of War, Russian soldiers in Severodonetsk "have yet to establish full control over the city."

It was reported from Donbas that the Russian army was preparing its defense in the Kherson region against a Ukrainian counteroffensive that had made some progress in recent weeks.

It was also reported that Russian soldiers may have seized a tiny peninsula in the northern Black Sea, on the boundary of Mikhaylov and Kherson.

"If these Russian claims are true, control of the Kinburn Split will allow Russian troops to exert greater control of the northwestern Black Sea coast," the report stated.

In the 15 weeks since the start of the conflict, Russia has suffered at least 15,000 fatalities, the same number of deaths it sustained throughout the whole decade-long Soviet operation in Afghanistan.

Vladimir Putin has outlawed opposition and all references to war in Ukraine, preferring to refer to the situation as a "special operation" This indicates that he could not order a complete mobilization.

According to reports from Russia, its army is attempting to recruit contract soldiers through social media, websites, and newspaper classified ads.

On a Russian website for job searchers, one advertisement sought soldiers interested in firing rocket-propelled grenades. It promised a salary of approximately $2,600, about three times the average pay in Russia.