General Staff: Russian forces trying to advance in 5 areas

Russian troops are conducting offensives in the areas of Kupiansk, Lyman, Bakhmut, Shakhtarsk, and Avdiivka in eastern Ukraine, the General Staff of Ukraine's Armed Forces reported in its evening update on Feb. 21.

On the same day, National Security and Defense Council Secretary Oleksiy Danilov said on national TV that the Russian military was not succeeding with a "major offensive" in the east.

"The phrase 'great'... has faded. The 'great offensive' they planned has lasted for 8-10 days, but the enemy has no success," Danilov said. "Today, there are five areas on which they are attempting to attack, but our fighters, representatives of the entire security and defense sector, are courageously defending our state."

The General Staff also wrote that Ukraine's Air Force had carried out four strikes on Russian temporary military bases over the past 24 hours.

Meanwhile, Russian forces targeted multiple settlements in Chernihiv, Sumy, Kharkiv, Donetsk, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia oblasts over the same period, according to the report.

In particular, Russia launched 30 attacks on Kherson's civilian infrastructure using multiple launch rocket systems. At least six people were killed and 12 injured in the Russian shelling of civilian areas of Kherson on Feb. 21, according to the Southern Operational Command.

The U.K. Defense Ministry reported on Feb. 20 that "regardless of the reality on the ground," Russian forces would likely claim the capture of Bakhmut around the anniversary of the full-scale invasion.

According to the General Staff, "despite significant losses," Russia doesn't give up its intention to occupy the entire Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts.

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The Kyiv Independent