Amid the escalating Russia-Ukraine war, the Russian Defence Ministry has said in its daily briefing that “air, rocket and artillery forces are carrying out massive strikes on units of the Ukrainian armed forces in all operational directions.”
Moscow has reportedly pulled back its forces from swathes of northeast former Soviet country, Ukriane, particularly in the Kharkiv region, after Ukrainian armed forces launched a lightning counter-offensive to wrest back territory held by Putin’s forces.
In its briefing, the Defence Ministry said that it had launched “high-precision” strikes on the Kyiv’s positions around Sloviansk and Konstantinovka in the eastern Donetsk region.
The Russian forces in the region, which has been partially controlled by Moscow-backed separatists since 2014, have reported fierce battles with Ukrainian forces over recent days.
Meanwhile, the Kremlin has accused Kyiv’s army of abusing civilians in territory it had recaptured.
Russian President Vladimir Putin’s spokesperson stated that in the Kharkiv region, reports were emerging of “outrageous” treatment of civilians.
“There are a lot of punitive measures… people are being tortured, people are being mistreated and so on,” Russian diplomat Dmitry Peskov told journalists.
