Ukrainian officials reported that three persons were killed by Russian missile attacks in the southern Ukrainian city of Kherson as combat raged in the Donetsk region's eastern Vuhledar.
Just days after allies agreed to give Kyiv heavy battle tanks, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy stated that Ukraine faced a difficult situation in Donetsk and required speedier military deliveries and new armaments.
"The situation is quite dire. Bakhmut, Vuhledar, and other Donetsk region districts are under relentless Russian assault "Sunday night, Zelenskiy remarked in a televised speech.
"Russia desires that the war continue and wear out our forces. Therefore, we must make time for our weapons. We must accelerate events, expedite supplies, and provide Ukraine with new weaponry alternatives."
According to the regional government, According to the regional government, Sunday saw three fatalities and six injuries due to Russian attacks on Kherson that damaged a hospital and a school.
Shortly after Moscow invaded Ukraine in February 2022, Russian troops conquered Kherson and held it until Ukrainian forces recovered it in November. Since its liberation, Russian troops across the Dnieper have regularly shelled the city.
An older woman was killed Sunday evening after a missile damaged an apartment building in the northern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv, according to regional governor Oleh Synehubov.
A photograph taken by Reuters at the scene depicted a residential structure in the country's second-most populous city engulfed in flames.
Russia on Saturday accused the Ukrainian military of purposefully bombing a hospital in a region of eastern Ukraine occupied by Russia, resulting in the deaths of 14 people. Ukraine did not respond to the charges.
In a statement issued late Sunday night, Ukraine's General Staff claimed that Russian forces had shelled Bakhmut, the epicentre of Moscow's offensive in the eastern Donetsk area, and Vuhledar in the southwest, where fighting has intensified in recent days.
Mykola Salamakha, a Ukrainian military analyst and colonel, told Ukrainian Radio NV that Russian troops were launching waves of attacks against Vuhledar.
"From this site, we oversee the Russian rail network utilized for logistics... The town is situated on a bluff, and a formidable defensive hub has been established there, "he stated.
This is a repeat of the event in Bakhmut, where the Ukrainian military defeated several waves of Russian troops.
Reuters was unable to confirm the accounts from the battlefield.
Sunday's civilian casualties occurred three days after at least eleven people were killed in missile attacks that Kyiv interpreted as the Kremlin's retaliation to pledges from Ukraine's partners to provide combat tanks.
Germany and the United States announced last week that they would give Ukraine dozens of tanks to assist in pushing back Russian forces, paving the stage for other nations to follow suit.
According to Kyiv's envoy to France, it could take months for 321 heavy tanks promised to Ukraine by many nations to appear on the battlefield.
Both warring parties are expected to undertake spring offensives in the following weeks. Thus Ukraine is eager to expedite the delivery of heavy weapons.
On Saturday, a top assistant to Zelenskiy stated that Ukraine's requests for long-range weapons were also the subject of discussions between Kyiv and its allies. Ukraine has also requested American F16 fighter fighters.
Olympics
As part of his effort to exclude Russian athletes from the Olympic Games in Paris, Zelenskiy stated that he had sent a letter to French President Emmanuel Macron.
He stated that allowing Russia to compete in the 2024 Paris Olympics would be comparable to accepting terrorism.
In his weekly video address, Zelenskiy stated, "Attempts by the International Olympic Committee to bring Russian athletes back into the Olympic Games are attempts to tell the whole world that terror is somehow acceptable"
Referring to the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin, held while the Nazis were in power, he stated, "The Olympic movement and terrorist states definitely should not cross paths."
Russia, he stated, must not be permitted to "use (the Games) or any other sports event as propaganda for its aggression or its state chauvinism.."
Last week, the International Olympic Committee approved a proposal from the Olympic Council of Asia that would allow Russian and Belarusian athletes to compete in Asia.
Russia asserts that it initiated its "special military operation" in Ukraine to defend the country against a hostile West and "denazify" it. According to Ukraine and its allies, the invasion was an act of unprovoked aggression.
