Kremlin expresses ‘extreme concern’ over allegation that Ukrainian missile was shot down in Belarus

Russian forces shelled the entire front line in the Donetsk region from Thursday night to Friday morning, according to the head of the regional military administration, as fighting continues in the eastern Ukraine region.

Pavlo Kyrylenko said the towns of Vuhledar and Kurakhivska were among the settlements that were attacked. The town of Kostyantynivka, located about twenty kilometers from the front line, was hit by rocket fire on Thursday, damaging schools and a theater.

The Ukrainian army also reported artillery fire on Maryinka and Avdiivka in Donetsk on Friday morning. He said Russian forces were stepping up their assaults around several settlements immediately west and north of the city of Donetsk, an area where the front lines have changed little since the Russian invasion.

Much of the fiercest fighting of the war raged around Donetsk’s key city of Bakhmut. The two sides have been engaged in a brutal battle there since Russian forces launched their siege of the city in earnest in May.

An adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, Oleksiy Arestovych, said on Thursday that Ukrainian and Russian forces were both suffering heavy troop losses in Bakhmut and the nearby town of Soledar, calling the fighting « very serious ».

Somewhere else: Russian forces have attacked several parts of the eastern Luhansk region, where Ukrainian forces have made modest gains since September, according to the Ukrainian military.

In the northeast region of Sumy, officials reported cross-border mortar fire, the consequences of which were unclear.

And in the southern region of Zaporizhzhia, authorities said nearly 20 settlements were shelled, including several some distance from the front lines, damaging apartments and civilian infrastructure.