Russian troops are not slowing their push in several areas of the Donetsk region despite suffering heavy losses, the Ukrainian military said on February 3, amid indications that Moscow is preparing for a major push in the east to break months of stalemate.
The Russian attacks over the past 24 hours have been concentrated mainly on four directions — Lyman, Bakhmut, Avdiyivka, and Novopavlivka — Ukraine’s General Staff reported in its morning briefing on February 3.
At the same time, the General Staff said, Russia’s continued attacks on Ukraine’s civilian and infrastructure objectives had resulted in civilian deaths and damage.
“The Russian Federation does not abandon its intentions to destroy the critical infrastructure of our state, continues to strike civilian objectives and homes of the civilian population. Over the past day, the enemy launched four rocket attacks, two of which hit the civilian infrastructure of the city of Kramatorsk in Donetsk, as well as five air strikes,” the military said.
A previous missile strike on an apartment block in Kramatorsk killed at least five people on February 1.
Russian forces continued to launch rocket attacks on civilian targets in Kherson and Mykolayiv, the military said, adding, “Peaceful citizens were killed and injured by enemy strikes.”
The Russian military has repeatedly justified its attacks on Ukrainian cities as necessary to destroy Ukrainian military equipment and has denied targeting civilians despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said later on February 2 in his nightly video address that the Russian Army still had the resources to attempt offensive actions, although “strategically, Russia’s defeat is already clear.”
The Russian military is “looking for options to try to change the course of the war” and trying to “use the potential of the territory it currently controls to serve its aggression,” Zelenskiy said.
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“We must continue what we are doing: strengthen our resilience, be absolutely united in our desire to provide our army and all defenders with the necessary weapons and equipment,” he said.
Ukrainians must speak with one voice to the world regarding defense supplies and significantly increase global pressure on Russia every month, he said.
“The enemy should come out of this much more weakened than they foresee for themselves in the worst-case scenario,” Zelenskiy said.
Ukraine last week won pledges from the United States and Germany to send tanks to help it defend itself.
Russian President Vladimir Putin referred to the tank shipments on February 2 in a speech at events marking the 80th anniversary of the Red Army’s victory over Nazi Germany in Stalingrad.
Putin, speaking in the southern city of Volgograd, said Russia had an answer for the tanks, in particular the German Leopards, and said the use of armored vehicles “will not end the matter.”
The Russian Interfax news agency quoted Putin as saying that Russia was being threatened by German tanks “again” as it was during World War II, drawing a false parallel between the Soviet Union’s defensive war against Nazi Germany and Moscow’s war of choice in Ukraine.
“We aren’t sending tanks to their borders, but we have something to respond with, and it won’t be just about using armored vehicles. Everyone should understand this,” he added.
