Fierce battles in south and north of Bakhmut, Russia advances on Avdiivka and Marinka: General Staff report

The fiercest battles continue in the southern and northern parts of Bakhmut, and Russia continues to advance on Avdiivka and Marinka.

Source: General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine on Facebook, information as of 18:00 on 22 March

Details: Over the course of the day, the Ukrainian Air Force struck a Russian anti-aircraft missile system and delivered 12 strikes on clusters of Russian personnel and military equipment.

The Russian Federation continues its armed aggression against Ukraine, focusing its main efforts on attempts to completely seize Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts within the administrative borders. The Russians continue to conduct offensive actions on the Lyman, Bakhmut, Avdiivka, Marinka and Shakhtarsk fronts. The fiercest battles are taking place in the southern and northern parts of Bakhmut, and the invaders also conducted offensive actions on the Avdiivka front to establish control over Avdiivka and Marinka.

The Russian aggressor continues to use its usual tactics of terror against the civilian population, attacking settlements and critical infrastructure.

During the day, the Russians launched a missile attack on Zaporizhzhia, as a result of which two Russian missiles hit a multi-storey residential building, causing deaths and injuries among civilians.

The Russians also carried out 41 airstrikes. In particular, the occupiers used 21 Shahed-136 UAVs from Bryansk Oblast of the Russian Federation, 16 of which were shot down. As a result of the invaders’ UAV strikes, the Russians hit the territory of a dormitory of a vocational college in Rzhyshchiv, Kyiv Oblast, causing deaths and injuries among civilians and damaging a civilian critical infrastructure facility in Zhytomyr Oblast. The invaders also carried more than 30 attacks using multiple-launch rocket systems.

On the Volyn, Polissia, Sivershchyna and Slobozhanshchyna fronts, the operational situation has not changed significantly, and no Russian offensive groups have been detected. The Russian leadership continues to use the infrastructure of Belarus to train its troops. The occupiers maintain a military presence in the border areas. During the day, the Russians fired in and around the settlements of Khrinivka and Mykhalchyna Sloboda in Chernihiv Oblast; Atynske, Volfyne and Popivka in Sumy Oblast; Basove, Strilecha, Hlyboke and Vovchansk in Kharkiv Oblast.

On the Kupiansk and Lyman fronts, the Russians continue to try to break Ukrainian defence. They conducted unsuccessful offensives in the areas of Makiivka and Bilohorivka. The settlements of Dvorichna, Kupiansk and Krokhmalne in Kharkiv Oblast; Bilohorivka in Luhansk Oblast; and Kolodiazi and Verkhnokamianske in Donetsk Oblast came under Russian artillery fire.

On the Bakhmut front, the Russians continue to conduct offensive actions; however, their offensive potential is decreasing. The invaders do not stop trying to capture the city, losing a significant amount of manpower, weapons and military equipment. Ukrainian defenders have been repelling numerous Russian attacks around the clock in the areas of Bakhmut, Bohdanivka and Predtechyne. A number of settlements near the contact line came under Russian fire, including Vasiukivka, Mynkivka, Hryhorivka, Bakhmut, Ivanivske, Bila Hora, Druzhba, Maiorsk, Zalizne and New-York in Donetsk Oblast.

On the Avdiivka, Marinka and Shakhtarsk fronts, the Russians conducted offensive actions in the areas of Novokalynove, Stepove, Berdychi, Avdiivka, Lastochkyne, Sieverne, Vodiane, Pervomaiske, Marinka and Pobieda, but to no avail. In particular, Avdiivka, Vodiane, Karlivka, Krasnohorivka, Marinka, Vuhledar and Velyka Novosilka in Donetsk Oblast came under Russian fire.

The invaders are on the defensive on the Zaporizhzhia and Kherson fronts. A number of settlements located near the contact line came under fire, including Huliaipole, Zaliznychne, Huliaipilske, Bilohiria, Mala Tokmachka and Kamianske in Zaporizhzhia Oblast; and Havrylivka, Beryslav, Vesele, Antonivka, Dniprovske and the city of Kherson.

The Russian occupying forces set up a military hospital in the building of a kindergarten in the village of Vesele in the temporarily occupied territory of Zaporizhzhia Oblast.

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