On the 79th day of the Russian offensive in Ukraine, the fighting, which is concentrated more than ever in the east of the country, follows the meanders of the Seversky Donets river, a particularly complicated terrain.
The Ukrainians destroy the bridges which span it to delay the progression of the Russian forces.
In fact, foreign journalists have been able to confirm that Ukraine has regained control of the territory stretching from the banks of the Donets to about 40 km east of Kharkiv.
Despite this, Russian artillery continues to target the suburbs of Kharkiv.
The suburbs of Kharkiv still targeted
In the early morning of Friday, the mayor of Dergachiv announced that the house of culture, where humanitarian aid to civilians was stored and distributed, was destroyed by a Russian rocket.
Although the Russian troops are retreating in Kharkiv, they continue to use their artillery in the suburbs of the second Ukrainian city.
On Thursday evening, a Russian shell hit a hangar in the village of Shebelinka, killing three and injuring five.
Ukrainian Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs Yevhen Yenin accused the Russian army of shooting at civilians from a tank.
Azovstal Factory Ground Assault
While the Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister still hopes to negotiate, with the help of the UN, the Red Cross and the mediation of Turkey, that the seriously injured Ukrainian soldiers can leave the Mariupol metallurgical complex, the Russian forces have launched this Friday morning a ground offensive on Azovstal between two bombardments.
Battle for Serpents' Island
This small strategic point in the Black Sea was discovered at the beginning of the conflict, when Ukrainian soldiers refused to give in to the Russians in foul terms.
Ukraine claims to have damaged a Russian Navy logistics vessel near Serpents' Island: "Thanks to the actions of our sailors, the support ship Vsevolod Bobrov caught fire - it is one of the newest in the Russian fleet,” said Sergei Bratchuk, a spokesman for the Odessa regional military administration.
Satellite images provided by US company Maxar show the aftermath of likely missile attacks on a Russian Serna-class landing craft near the island.
The images also showed recent damage to buildings on the island.
Ukraine will fight for the island "as long as necessary", claimed,
during an interview on Ukrainian television, the head of Ukrainian military intelligence, Kyrylo Budanov.
According to him, “whoever controls the island can at any time block the movement of civilian ships in all directions towards southern Ukraine”.
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The remote Black Sea island has been the scene of fresh fighting in recent days.
It could become the center of a battle for control of the western Black Sea coast.
kyiv eases its curfew
In Kyiv and the Kyiv region, Mayor Vitali Klitschko announced an easing of the curfew: from Sunday it will start at 11 p.m., one hour later than currently, and will extend until 5 hours of the morning.
“Respect the curfew rules.
And don't ignore the air raid signals!
Because the threat of rocket attacks on kyiv remains,” he warned.
The next day, the metro will start operating again from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m., and buses and trams until 10:30 p.m.
In Odessa, pro-Russians would be harassed
According to Russian forces, Ukrainian police in Odessa and Territorial Defense militiamen break into the homes of Odessa residents to seize any equipment capable of broadcasting Russian television channels.
According to the Russian agency RIA Novosti, this measure is taken while the discontent of the local population is growing against kyiv, due to the worsening of living conditions and actions against pro-Russian citizens.
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