Russia steps up military assault on Ukraine as power plant under threat

Key target cities of Bakhmut and Avidiivka come under attack in battle of Donetsk region

A serviceman with a Russian flag on his uniform stands guard near the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant in Ukraine outside the Russian-controlled city of Enerhodar. Picture by Alexander Ermochenko

Susie Blann

Russian forces began an assault yesterday on two key cities in the eastern Donetsk region and kept up rocket and shelling attacks on other Ukrainian cities, including one close to Europe’s largest nuclear power plant.

Both cities of Bakhmut and Avdiivka have been considered key targets of Russia’s ongoing offensive across Ukraine’s east, with analysts saying Moscow needs to take Bakhmut if it is to advance on the regional hubs of Sloviansk and Kramatorsk.