Russian troops launched new attacks in eastern Ukraine on Thursday, with heavy fighting reported from around the nearly destroyed cities of Avdiivka and Bakhmut, which came after a new round of missile and drone attacks seen overnight.
In its daily situation report, Ukraine's General Staff listed 11 Russian advances towards four localities.
Along the entire front line from the south to the eastern parts of Ukraine, a total of 48 battles had flared up, according to the report, which also mentioned Russian air and artillery attacks near the eastern city of Kharkiv.
The information could not be independently verified.
Kharkiv was targeted in overnight missile and combat drone attacks, with the mayor reporting two explosions, including one that hit and destroyed a restaurant.
No one was injured, according to initial reports. The most recent attack on the Ukraine's second largest city came after one person was killed and 19 injured in a Wednesday attack.
Ukraine was able to intercept 26 attack drones of the Iranian type Shahed-136/131 within Odesa, Kharkiv, Dnipropetrovsk and Zaporizhzhia regions, the head of the Ukrainian air force, Mykola Oleshchuk, wrote on Telegram. The information could not be independently verified.
Explosions were also reported overnight in the city of Dnipro in southern Ukraine. There was no information on casualties or damage until the morning.
Russia used three Ch-22 cruise missiles, an anti-radar missile, a converted S-200 anti-aircraft missile and 28 Iranian-made Shahed drones in the attacks, Oleshchuk said.
Ukraine is at a crucial point in the war triggered by Russia's all-out invasion in February 2022, amid reports of ammunition shortages and difficulty in recruiting new soldiers for frontline operations. Morale was dented in February when the industrial town of Avdiivka fell to the Russians after a long and devastating battle.
Meanwhile, a Russian aeroplane of unknown type has crashed into the sea near Sevastopol on the Russian-occupied Black Sea peninsula of Crimea, Crimea's Russian-appointed Governor Mikhail Rasvoshaev said on Telegram on Thursday.
The pilot saved himself by parachute and landed in the water around 200 metres from the coast and was picked up unharmed by a lifeboat shortly afterwards, Rasvoshaev said. He did not give details regarding the cause of the crash.
Ukrainian media speculated that the plane could have been shot down by Russian air defence by mistake. The UNIAN news agency published a picture of a crashing, burning aircraft. The authenticity of the image could not be independently verified.